The Guardian
by VaingloriousHound
Summary: The Uzumaki were known for their prolonged life and incredible healing factor. That and their prowess in the sealing arts placed them as one of the strongest clans in all of the elemental nations. But they had their secrets, one of them being the Guardians. Born every eighth generation, they were the protectors of Uzushio. And Naruto is born as such. But he doesn't know that...
1. Chapter 1

**The Guardian**

 **A/N: So, this is an AU, so don't go bug me about stuff that isn't canon. Naruto here has red hair, because Uzumaki are awesome. Anything else will be explained as the story goes.**

The Uzumaki where known for their prolonged life and incredible healing factor. That and their prowess in the sealing arts placed them as one of the strongest clans in all of the elemental nations. Their swordsman ship was feared by everyone who had survived being at the end of their blades and the humongous amount of chakra they naturally held dwarfed even the most powerful of ninja.

A trademark trait of theirs: Blood red hair, a trait so dominantly engraved in their blood, even the most distant relatives of theirs would still possess deep red hair. Mind you, there were still exceptions, but everyone from the so-called royal line was sure to receive the red hair gene. Exceptions were those children whose parents were an Uzumaki and someone with a bloodline. For whatever reason a bloodline cancled the red hair gene as well as the ability to utilize any of the other Uzumaki bloodline abilities, such as _the Adamantine Chains,_ the _Red Lightning_ (a special type of Lightning Release) and the _Healing Blood._

But the Uzumaki had a secret. A very well guarded one. Every 8th generation, an Uzumaki would be born, known to his clan as _The Guardian_.

Born as such, things differed greatly from the norm, even by Uzumaki standards. For one, their chakra was not to be compared to anybody else's. To get to the point, it had zero offensive capabilities, meaning no nature manipulation at all. The chakra refused to be used in any offensive way, instead it was pure life energy. The Guardians among the Uzumaki were the best medics ever known to mankind. Their ability to heal even mortal wounds and regrow whole limbs to their patients was kept a closely guarded secret. They could fully enhance their bodies to take near infinite amounts of damage, making themselves the ultimate shield to their people. And so much more, but it all was buried in the ruins of Uzushio.

But their numbers were small, had always been. At the time of the invasion of Uzushiogakure, there were but three guardians, and even tough they protected their people beyond what anyone else could have done, they were felled by the overwhelming number of shinobi that had attacked them. No one survived. No one but Kushina Uzumaki, princess of the whirlpool country and at the time of the invasion a resident of Konohagakure, and, as it came to pass, a child of the seventh generation.

Her son, Uzumaki Naruto, was born a Guardian.

But he did not know that, no one did. His mother and father died in the attack of the nine tailed fox, leaving him with a great burden to bear. The Kyuubi had been sealed in him as it had been sealed in his mother before him. But he was, beyond any doubt, an Uzumaki. Those who had known his mother would often compare them, claiming that his hair was just the same shade of red as her's and his eyes the very same shade of violet. The Third Hokage even told him that he had the nose of his grandfather, the late Uzukage.

Being the lone survivor of his clan, Naruto set it in his head to rebuild Uzushio one day and become Uzukage.

But it seemed that it shouldn't be. Naruto, being born as a Guardian, could not use any jutsu that he was taught in the academy. But due to the fact that he was a clan heir, he continued his education anyways. Laws made it possible for him. But this apparent disability hit Naruto harder than he let on. He had always been sarcastic and oddly silent when surrounded by many people, quite the opposite to when he and the Third Hokage were alone, where he would be as loud and obnoxious as his mother had been. He also seemed to have received her foul mouth.

When his inability to use ninjutsu became clear, Naruto began focusing on taijutsu and the sealing arts. Genjutsu were virtually impossible for him and his shitloads of chakra, aside from the really high level stuff and they wouldn't teach an academy student how to create a fake dimension around someone just yet. Naruto was good at taijutsu, the only one to ever beat him was Sasuke Uchiha, who was at the same time his rival and best friend. But the special thing about Naruto's fighting style was... he never attacked. It seemed like it wasn't within his nature, throwing a punch, but his defense was unparalleled. Sasuke only ever managed to beat him because of his Sharingan.

Sealing arts... well, he was an Uzumaki and Hiruzen couldn't find enough books for the red head to go through. Having learned the basics of kenjutsu as well, Naruto was saddened to admit that he was not as talented for it as his mother had been. Instead, the Third gave him a staff to use. He was scarily good and always carried it with him, using it as a walking stick of sorts and never using it for anything else but defending himself. It looked ridiculous, him being but a young teen with a staff nearly twice as big as him, but no one dared to say anything.

But no matter how good he was at all these things, the academy required of him to be able to use at least seven jutsu to pass. And he couldn't even use one. He had no medical condition like Lee had, with his crippled coils, or Yakumo with her frail body. He was perfectly healthy and still couldn't do it. And he refused to attack first, even he himself couldn't explain it.

And thus, he failed.

Just like that.

Hiruzen did not often visit the top of his own head on the Hokage Mountain, but it was where he knew Naruto would be. He came here the first time he had to face that he couldn't use his chakra the way he wanted to.

"Naruto."

The red head didn't move, he just sat there, looking out over the village. His messy red hair was swaying gentle in the wind, pulled back in that even messier ponytail of his, and his eyes were closed. Hiruzen sighed and sat down besides him.

"Naruto," he began again, "What will you do now?"

It was a blunt question and he knew that the boy had no answer for him.

Naruto looked up at him, tired eyes seemingly searching for an answer in the old man's eyes.

"I don't know," he responded in a hollow voice. "I really don't know. I'm going to be the head of my clan and I can't even fucking fight." He snorted. "It's ridiculous."

Hiruzen scoffed. "It really is." He placed a hand on the shoulder of boy he considered his grandson. "You can't fight, it goes against your nature. You said so yourself."

Naruto nodded mutely, not seeing where this was going.

"Then how about you go and find your nature first?" the man suggested.

The Uzumaki raised an eyebrow at the Hokage. "How could I do that? How the hell could I find anything here that isn't reminding me that I have to fight?"

"Then leave."

That totally threw Naruto of track. "Huh?" he asked dumbly.

Hiruzen nodded, more to himself than Naruto, reassuring himself of his decision. "You heard me. Leave the village, travel, see things for you own."

Naruto gaped at him. "I- How could you sanction that? How could you get the others to understand?"

"I don't see how that is your problem," Hiruzen said, "And besides, this is still a military dictatorship, so my word is law." The man shrugged. "And... isn't this what you want as well?"

Naruto looked back out at the village. "Yeah," he said eventually, "It is. I just can't be me here. Hell, I don't even know how to be me yet!"

Hiruzen stood up again, only slightly wincing as his back cracked loudly. "Your leave is bound to a condition. You must return on you sixteenth birthday."

"The day I'm supposed to be clan head."

Hiruzen nodded. "Exactly. If you can promise me your return to us, you may leave. I suggest you head to the ruins of Uzushio."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Then... Then I'll need to say goodbye to-" But Hiruzen cut him off.

"I can't let you do that, Naruto."

"What! Why?" the redhead exclaimed and jumped to his feet.

"Because I know they would try to stop you. It is hard enough to explain your disappearance as it is, if someone was to see you leave or talk to you about it, word would get out and I don't need rumors spreading about you defecting. We had revolts for lesser reasons."

Naruto chuckled dryly. "Oh yeah, I still remember the protests when you abolished the subvention of the civilian housings."

"We are a military state after all," Hiruzen said, also chuckling. "But seriously though, we need to keep this quiet for as long as possible. The academy will begain anew in 3 months. Until then I will have a good reason for them. Hopefully..."

"Fine, fine, I'll leave quietly... You mentioned Uzushio, that's farther east, near the Wave country, right?"

Hiruzen nodded. "It is. You may also want to seek out Jiraiya or Tsunade. They have long since gone their own ways, you may be able to learn a thing or two from them."

Naruto stepped closer to the Hokage and hesitated a moment before hugging the man fiercely. "Thank you, old man. For everything."

"No need to thank me, Naruto. Just don't make me regret this," he said, hugging the Uzumaki back.

Naruto took a step back. "So... see you in three years time then."

"Indeed. And don't you dare be late, Naruto. I know you've spent time with Kakashi."

Naruto looked nonplussed and scratched his cheek. "You say something?, he drawled before smirking and vanishing in a swirl of red leaves.

Hiruzen massaged his forehead. "Oh dear, I hope he finds Tsunade first. I don't want to think what will become of him if Jiraiya gets his hands on him..."

 **XXXXXX (There is no real need to read this part, skip to the next and treat it like a time skip if you want.)**

To say three years passed in a flash would be quite rude in hindsight of all the stuff that happened in these years. Naruto would call it loads of bullshit but bit back his comment lest he get decked over the head by Tsunade. After Naruto had left the village in the dead of the night, he wandered the roads gen east. He arrived at the skeleton of an impressive bridge about a week after he had left Konoha. The bridge was unfinished so he couldn't cross is by foot. Thankfully, Naruto had learned how to walk on water in his fervor to control his chakra, and so he simply walked across the ocean towards the island country.

It didn't take much to see that something was wrong there. The town he had entered gave off an aura of depression, the streets were empty and dirty, the houses looked as if a bunch of hooligans regularly vandalized them. The market was empty, deserted even, and when Naruto passed the only house he could spy a light in, shutters were slammed close before he got close enough to look into the windows. Seriously unnerved, Naruto climbed atop the highest building the could find and looked around. There, on a hill in the forest, Naruto could see another house.

Said house turned out to be the residence of the man who tired to build the bridge to the main land, Tazuna and on his part master bridge builder. Naruto found shelter with him and found passage to Uzushio though him. Before he left for the Islands that once were his clan's home he took a job, a ninja job for the older man.

Protect the bridge.

It was the first time Naruto got a glimpse of his own abilities.

The people of Wave country were suffering greatly from an industrial tycoon named Gato, who took over every haven and shipping organization on the country, effectively bleeding out the people. Without access to their ships they couldn't sell any of their goods, which was mostly fish and a special silk produced on the islands. The bridge would create a new path for export as well as import. Tazuna was a thorn in Gato's side and the bridge builder knew that he was being targeted. He couldn't afford hiring ninja from Konoha so he pleaded with Naruto to aid him, after the boy had scared away a bunch of samurai sent to kill Tazuna. He really didn't do much, he couldn't fight back after all, so he just dodged and blocked whatever they threw at him and dared them to try again. They fled in an instant.

It was while he was protecting Tazuna at the bridge that he met Zabuza and his kunoichi, Haku.

Truth be told, Naruto was no match for them. He could hold himself against Haku just fine but Zabuza was a Jonin after all. If not for the fact that Gato decided to loudly proclaim that he wasn't going to pay them anyways and kill them off, Naruto would have probably died less than a month after he left Konoha. But it was during his encounter with Zabuza that Naruto discovered a very curios ability of his. He could create barriers. Solid, half transparent barriers of pure, reddish chakra. And he could create this quite far away from his own position.

He first created one when he saw Zabuza's blade fly at Tazuna. He was too far away to intercept the blade but in his desperation he flung out his hand towards Tazuna and willed him with all his might to be protected. And that was just what happened. A dome of red energy opened up around the bridge builder and Zabuza's blade bounced off it's surface. Because Zabuza didn't know if there were any more ninja in the vicinity, he retreated.

After that, he met Haku in by a river where Naruto tried to better control these barriers of his.

They talked, unknowing that they would later have to fight.

Haku was the first real friend Naruto had made without the bias of him being the sole heir to the Uzumaki and to Haku, Naruto was the first actual friend she ever made. They talked for hours on end, laughing about little nothings. Haku told him about the loss of her mother and how she was forced to kill her father, all because of her bloodline, and Naruto told her about the hate and spite he faced because of the burden he carried, the nine-tails sealed in his gut.

And over the course of a week they would meet everyday at the stream. But Zabuza attacked the bridge again, this time with Haku.

Both fought with a heavy heart, as Zabuza tried to find Tazuna, but thankfully stopped when Zabuza returned and stated that his contract with Gato was null. The man had tried to betray him.

After Zabuza and Haku, with some protective assistance from Naruto, fought and defeated most of Gato's thugs, Naruto discovered a second ability to him. Gato fired a cannon barrage at the bridge from ships stationed at the coast. Haku was mortally wounded as Naruto's barrier broke.

His desperation reached a new height as he tried to stop the blood flow from the gaping hole in Haku's side. Imagine his surprise when his hands began glowing red and the wound began to knit itself back together. It wasn't perfect and she would forever bear a scar but Haku survived. Zabuza had meanwhile, in an untold fit of rage, sunk all three ships with his Water Dragons and chopped Gato into tiny little pieces.

With his job done, Naruto left for Uzushio and suggested for Haku and Zabuza to seek refuge in Konoha. He handed them a scroll that would put them under the protection of the Uzumaki clan and boarded a ship towards the Land of Whirlpools.

Uzushiogakure was nothing but a ruin. The village that once must have been as big as Konoha was but dust and debris. The village had mostly been built out of limestone, dozen of pillars with engravings lined the cobblestone streets and the skeletons of once high buildings still towered over the landscape. And there were skeletons... of people.

For a week straight, Naruto buried every body he could find in the ruins outside of the village on a hill. 312 graves in total now watched over their once great village. Afterwards, he searched though the houses and their basements for any scroll of book he could find. And he stayed in Uzushio for a whole year, learned for a whole year who and what he was, before finally standing in the middle of the grave hill he himself had created.

"I'm leaving now," he said, looking over the graves of his clansmen. "I learned a lot, more than I imagined to ever find. Thank you for that." He began walking away, towards the shore. "One day, this village will rise again, I promise."

His travels brought him throughout the whole of the Land of Fire, he met many people, experienced their joy and their loss with them. He became a wandering healer, helping wherever he was. And after another year of having seen most of the Land of Wind, he ended up in a town just a weeks travel from Konoha. It was in a bar that he met one of the three legendary Sannin. Tsunade. In all her... drunk... and broke... glory(?) he managed to trick her into taking him as her apprentice. At first she was reluctant but after she had seen his initial talent and sheer affinity for the healing arts, she taught him all she knew. He would be able to do what she could not. Save even those dying in his arms.

Jiraiya remained elusive for the rest of his travels up to the point where the man himself sought out Tsunade.

 **XXXXXX**

"Tsunade."

The blonde woman halted mid swig of her sake and turned towards the voice. Sitting on the stool besides her was Jiraiya, her former teammate and friend.

"What do you want? Why the hell are you even here?" she snapped at him after she downed her cup in one go. The man winced internally at the amount of alcohol that was probably in her system.

"Old Hiruzen calls you back," he said, not facing her. He signaled the bartender for a drink of his own.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Does he now..."

Jiraiya's rose even higher as he stared at her in a mix of disbelieve and shock. "You... you aren't raging on about how you won't return?"

She shot him a glare, downing another glass. "Should I?"

He shook his head. "No, no. It's just... surprising, is all."

Tsunade shrugged, downed another glass and stood up. "Probably." She faced away from him. "Brat!" she barked, "We're leaving!"

From behind Tsunade Jiraiya spied a mop of red hair that had been sitting at Tsunade's right side. He blinked.

"Is that-?" he began but Tsunade was long out of earshot, followed by whom he knew to be Naruto Uzumaki.

"So," Naruto said when they were outside of the bar, "Will you go back? I'm due to leave anyways."

Tsunade sighed. "I'm not sure, brat. I really am not. With you there, Konoha might still have some hope in the medical department."

He laughed. "Don't try a n' sweet talk me, old hag. We both know it doesn't work."

With a snort, Tsunade stopped walking. "Just because I don't have red hair, and don't try to deny it." She continued to walk towards the hotel they were staying at while Naruto opened and closed his mouth over and over before begrudgingly following his teacher.

"Wait up!" Master and apprentice turned around to see Jiraiya push his way through the masses towards them.

"Oh for kami's sake...," Tsunade muttered but stopped anyways.

The white haired man stopped in front of them. "I need an answer, Tsunade. We have a war approaching us and we will need you with us for that."

"I know," was all she said.

Jiraiya gaped. "You- You know!?" he stuttered.

Tsunade nodded and jerked her thump at Naruto. "The kid came by Otogakure some time ago. They have been preparing this for over a year." She smirked. "Seems you're getting to old for your job, pervert."

Jiraiya blinked. Blinked again and sighed deeply. "Jeez, kid. What the hell?"

Naruto shrugged. "It's as she said. Old, pervert. This just doesn't cut it as a spymaster."

"Now hold on a second, I ain't no pervert-!"

"I swear to kami, Jiraiya," Tsunade growled, "If you pull this _super pervert_ shit one more time in my presence I won't be returning to Konoha!"

Jiraiya face faulted. "Fine, fine... So, when will you leave?"

"I'll return with Naruto on his sixteenth birthday," she replied.

Jiraiya nodded. "I'll see you in two weeks then." He vanished in a swirl of leaves... and "research" pages out of one of his notebooks.

"Fucking pervert," Tsunade growled. It seemed that the Uzumaki were somewhat foul mouthed by Nature...

But in was in a weeks time that a hawk found its way into Naruto's hotel room. Tsunade was just about waking up with a major hangover when her door was kicked off its hinges. Naruto and Shizune burst into the room, the latter tripping in after Naruto and his staff.

"Move it Granny!" Naruto shouted. Tsunade groaned but the redhead didn't wait for any kind of response. "Konoha is under attack! Get your drunk ass into gear!"

She was sober in under a second. "Fuck!" she growled and moved. And god damn she moved. Naruto blinked twice and Tsunade was all packed and ready to go. That's a kage level shinobi for you. "What are we waiting for?! Move!"

So much for the woman who refused to even look in Konoha's general direction for the last two decades. Naruto shook his head and hurried after her as Shizune hastily paid for their stay.

They rushed through the trees as fast as possible, on the horizon, where Konoha was supposed to be, black smoke was steadily rising into the sky.

Suddenly Tsunade growled. "I'm going on ahead," and without waiting for an answer she kicked down hard on a tree branch and shot off. Shizune looked apologetically at Naruto before flickering away as well. The redhead sighed but continued on anyways. They were right after all, they couldn't afford to wait. As he was flying through the trees he spotted signs of a fight. Halting momentarily and expanding his senses, he sensed a few presences to the west. One of them, the closest, was weak, in a state of dying.

Naruto's chakra roared to life when he registered the fading energy and a red hue shrouded him as his violet eyes gained a golden tint. He was going to save this life. It was his nature to do so. Channeling all his chakra in to his legs, to the point of near bursting, he exploded of the tree he had stuck to with an almighty crack as his body broke through the sound barrier. He sliced through the forest with blinding speed- until the forest just ended. Naruto blinked once in surprise as he shot into a clearing where all the trees had been cleanly cut down and lay scattered everywhere. Somewhere underneath these trees was the dying person.

His senses pinpointed the location and he thrust a palm upwards. From underneath the trees a red glow was visible before they exploded away and a dome of red expanded among them. In the middle of these trees lay a girl in a pool of her own blood. Naruto was at her side in an instant. His mind geared into overdrive. It was time to save her. Both hands held aloft an inch above the girls body, his palms began to radiate golden light and the skin of his arms turned blood red.

The damage was excessive. Legs shattered, hip fractured, spinal cords severely disrupted and damaged, eight ribs broken with two piercing her lung, sternum fractured, first, second and third vertebra fractured, severe concussion and multiple inner hemorrhages. Clean cut deep into her back, nerves to the legs and anything below her torso served. Immense blood loss. Her face was unrecognizable, arms bent in five places, none of them the actual joint, and she was coated in blood and grime from head to toe.

Naruto took a deep breath and let his instincts as a Guardian take over. Golden chakra flowed over her mangled body like honey, slowly covering every inch of her body. Infections removed, her clothes were disintegrated, every foreign element was removed from her. He willed his chakra to replace her lost cells, replenish her blood, shift bones back into place and repair them.

Someone was there, outside of his barrier, but he ignored the two presences for now, they were wounded but in no danger of death. The barrier became opaque at his will and he continued to heal the girl. Belatedly, he noticed her long red hair. An Uzumaki? Absently, he checked her blood. Curiously enough, she wasn't related to him at all, they didn't have any common ancestors for at least 100 generations. She was two months older than him and had a very disturbing seal on her neck, but he would look into that later.

Her internal wounds and broken bones fully healed, he knitted her skin back together and set about repairing the neural damage when she woke up.

 **XXXXXX**

Tayuya wasn't sure why she was alive or if she as at all. The last thing she remembered was being buried underneath a hundred trees by that Suna chick with her fan that came to aid the shadow twerp. Oh yeah, the mission. Taking that Uchiha prick back to Oto so Orochimaru could use him as his new ass toy. Of course Konoha wouldn't let them take the emo head with them, even if it was admits a freaking invasion. Konoha shinobi suck, so fucking much. She got groped by some shadow guy! Jeez, what's wrong with that clan? Lazy ass bastards all together. Tayuya blinked and was surprised that the first thing she saw wasn't the tree she remembered crushing her face. The second thing she noticed was that she wasn't in any kind of pain. Even the constant throb of the curse seal was- nope, it was still there. Shit, she wasn't dead.

Then another sensation. The air caressed the skin of her stomach, her nipples- Hold up. She was buck naked.

Fuck?

Kneeling over her (she was floating?!) was a guy with spiky red hair and... golden eyes. He was wearing a white cloak with a hood attached to it. Against his shoulder leaned a staff, some type of Khakkhara. A monk? Wasn't that guy way too young for that? His hands hovered over her bare chest and over her navel each, glowing in warm gold. He was healing her, she could feel the flow of something foreign yet soothing through her body. It was then that she realized that she couldn't feel her legs from her abdomen downwards but the feeling seemed to steadily return, inch by inch.

Still, she was naked.

So she cursed violently.

"What the fuck?!"

The young man, teen actually, didn't flinch, but his eyes found hers and she bit back another curse. Those eyes... whatever it was, it bid her to remain still. But Tayuya had never been one to follow orders so she tried to move. It turned out to be the worst decision she could have made.

She hit the soft forest floor but didn't feel it. All she could feel was an absolute amount pain. Her blood boiled in her veins and the air corroded her lungs. Her bones felt like there were grinding against her muscles as those were flexed hard enough to the point of snapping. She curled back in utter agony as a scream ripped hoarsely from her throat, accompanied by a mixture of blood and vomit. But suddenly her mouth was closed off and she breathed in pure _warmth_. The pain melted away from her body as she pressed her lips harder against the warmth that eased her pain, eagerly taking in the taste of-

Her eyes flow open and faced half lidded violet eyes, the eyes of the cloaked teen that was kissing her.

What. The. Fuck?

And with that, the mental stress reached it's highest point and Tayuya's consciousness shut down because... fuck, it was too much.

 **XXXXXX**

The (quite literal) Kiss of Life did its job and stabilized her body, as it would have happened hadn't she just jerked out of his grasp all off sudden.

His eyes roamed her body once more, shining in solid gold, though this time, he had to fight back a blush. Now that she wasn't in mortal danger anymore, he became far more aware of the fact that she was in fact naked. And _beautiful_.

Naruto shook his head. _Focus, you are a healer, not a pervert,_ he told himself.

She was completely fine, her wounds healed and bones reset. But then he frowned. The nerves in her lower back were still damaged, she couldn't move her legs. He sighed and extended a hand. This wouldn't take long-

Something exploded against his barrier, shaking the ground.

"What the hell?" Naruto expended his senses and found that the two signatures from before had become hostile and were molding offensive chakra to use against his barrier.

Naruto growled. Who would dare attack a half dead girl? He ripped his cloak of his person and wrapped the girl securely in it before willing his barrier to become transparent.

Just then a blade of wind ground against the wall of chakra. Naruto frowned and raised his staff. The dome expanded momentarily and the attack was deflected. Peering outside he could spot two ninja about 20 meters from him. One was a a blonde teen and the other was-

"Shikamaru?"

The boy stood from his crouch and squinted at Naruto.

"Uzumaki?" he shouted, the sound dampened by the barrier.

"Of course it's me, lazy ass!" Naruto shouted back. "What the hell are you doing? Attacking a half dead girl?!"

Shikamaru frowned. "She's an enemy."

A growl escaped through the snarl on Naruto's lips. "She was in no condition to fight!"

"I assume she is now," the Nara returned. The blonde girl still held her fan at the ready.

"She can't fucking walk. You interrupted me before I could finish."

Shikamaru frowned. "You shouldn't heal her, she isn't on our side."

"So what?" Naruto snapped back. The barrier pulsed with his aggravation. "I'm not with Konoha at the moment. What if you had been laying here, crushed under tons of trees! Should I have fucking ignored you, let you die because you weren't on my side?!"

Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched. After a few seconds of silence he got out of his stance and signaled for the girl to do the same. "Fine. This whole missions is an absolute drag anyways."

"But-!" the fan wielding girl began to argue but the Nara raised a hand to stop her.

"She's out anyways. And besides, she's more useful to us alive, could provide information on Orochimaru."

Slowly, Naruto let his barrier fall. He tapped the ground twice with his staff and Tayuya began to gently float in the air. She hovered after him as he walked over to the others. Shirkamaru tried not to think about how much raw chakra control such an act required.

"So, she's one of Orochimaru's?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru nodded. "Personal bodyguard or so. There were four of them initially, she's the only one that survived."

He glanced back at his patient. "Poor soul, forced into his servitude by these sick seals." Shaking his head, he let his golden gaze roam over Shikamaru and the Suna girl. The Nara's eyes widened at Naruto's eye color but said nothing.

"You two have seen better days," he joked, "Let me fix that." And before any of them could say something a wave of gold and red washed over them.

The girl inhaled sharply as all the pain and exhaustion left her body. "What...?"

"Woah...," Shikamaru breathed as he flexed his perfectly healthy arms. "So, I guess that's what you do then?" he asked, smirking.

Naruto grinned. "Yeah. Best fuckin' healer you can find. A Guardian, to be precise but... let's head back to the village, shall we? And... why are you out here anyways."

The smirk left his features as Shikamaru frowned. "Sasuke defected."

Naruto blanched, almost dropping his patient.

"He fucking _what_?!"

 **A/N: So I tried making the reason for Naruto' leave something different. It isn't your stereotypical reason and I hope its still a valid one.**

 **Hope it was a good read! :3**

 **And by the way, not a dojutsu!Naruto.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Guardian**

Walking through the broken down gate of Konoha reminded Naruto all too much of the gates of Uzu. It made his stomach crunch in discomfort. The ruined gate house was the last building in Konoha he had seen as a whole. He briefly wondered if Izumo and Kotestsu got out alright. Obviously the fighting hadn't been over for that long, bodies of enemies and allies alike were still to be found here and there. Naruto could tell that the injured had already been carted off to the hospital or imprisoned, depending on their allegiances. As he hovered the girl Shikamaru identified as Tayuya towards the hospital, many of the ninja still working in the rubble were staring at him. Well, his hair was kind of a beacon in the crowd. Thank kami he wasn't blonde. In his skin tight dark blue shirt and black shinobi pants he wouldn't be all that recognizable. His cloak was an eye catcher though. But about half a block from the hospital an awful lot of commotion broke out behind them.

Kakashi Hatake was running at them full tilt, the prone form of a teen clad in a green spandex strapped to his back and another teen in a blood soaked jacket he carried in his arms. Immediately Naruto's eyes took on a golden hue and he turned to Shikamaru.

"Stop him! I need to heal them _now!_ " he urged the Nara. Not awaiting an answer he settled down Tayuya's body and took a deep breath.

Bound by Shikamaru's shadows yet still struggling forwards Kakashi came up besides him. The man was about to snarl at them, no doubt, but Naruto had already taken the teen of his back. It was Rock Lee, they boy had grown even taller since he had last seen him. Eyebrows as bushy as ever, even if they were soaked in his own blood. Naruto's eyes roamed over to the other teen and he determined him as the one in more immediate need of medical care. Hatake was saying something but Naruto didn't listen as he took Kiba from his grasp. The teen had a gaping whole in his chest and Naruto wasted no time setting to work. He didn't dare ask where Akamaru was. Kakashi was shoved back and out of his questioning by Naruto's barrier as he sealed of the space around him and his, by now, three patients.

"What is going on here, Shikamaru?," the silver haired Jonin asked, still not allowing himself to take a breather,as he gazed into the red dome with a frown.

Shikamaru sighed. Why did he need to explain things all the time. What a drag. "They will live, Kakashi, whatever they suffer from. Naruto can fix it."

"Naruto? Uzumaki Naruto?" the man asked in slight disbelief. "He's returned?"

"On emergency orders of the Third, or so he told me."

Suddenly Kakashi's head snapped to where the Hokage Tower once stood. "Lord Hokage! How is he?"

"If what Naruto tells me is true, then Tsunade is already here," Shikamaru said with a sigh. Why was everything so troublesome?

Whatever Kakashi was about to say was lost in the sound of shattering glass as Naruto's barrier crumbled away. There on the ground were Lee and Kiba, perfectly fine without even a speck of blood on them.

"That's... that," Naruto breathed, clearly exhausted. "Wow, that took a lot out of me, jeez." He tapped his staff to the ground once more and Tayuya's body started floating once more, albeit her ascend appeared somewhat shaky. He frowned. "A little help?" he asked in Shikamaru's general direction.

Of course, but only after a muttered _Troublesome_ , Shikamaru picked up Lee while Kakashi picked up Kiba again.

Naruto blinked and looked around. "Where did fanny girl go?"

"She's meeting up with the rest of the support unit Suna sent," Shikamaru replied evenly and walked on towards the hospital.

Shrugging, Naruto followed with Tayuya in tow.

"So," Kakashi began, "A medic, huh?"

Naruto laughed tiredly. "Something like that, though I don't use any jutsu. Its all chakra manipulation."

Kakashi's visible eye twitched but aside from an "I see," he did not comment further on the topic.

The hospital resembled a madhouse more than anything else when they arrived in front of the building. Aside from the remnants of (shoddy, in Naruto's opinion) barrier seals all around the mostly undamaged building, an unholy amount of people was being wheeled around, in and out of tents that had been placed in front of the hospital to cope with the ever increasing need for beds. The main entrance of the hospital was an endless in and out of doctors and medical shinobi as they tried to discern the severity of the injuries of the patients brought to them and treat those on mortal danger first. And above it all, Tsunade's voice was barking commands, loud enough to overshadow the whimpers (and occasional screams) of pain.

"I want everyone mortally wounded in a bed and on his way inside, right now! No, scratch that... I want it _yesterday!_ So get moving! NOW!" From her place on the porch over the main entrance she was shouting down at everyone that didn't move fast enough in her eyes.

Which was just about everyone in the vicinity.

"You!" Tsunade suddenly shouted, pointing at Naruto, "Drop your patients of in a room in the upper floors and get you ass into room 540!"

Naruto was about to answer but she had already disappeared.

"Damnit," Naruto grumbled as he pushed inside, Tayuya hovering over his head, out of reach form the masses below. They didn't even notice her until there was a loud _Clang!_ as Tayuya floated headfirst into a metal shield that hung from the ceiling. Seemingly everyone froze at once, staring at him and the girl floating above him. After a few seconds they went their way again, some people still looking suspiciously at the two redheads. Naruto winced and turned to Shikamaru. "That... that never happened."

The Nara chuckled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right, " Naruto laughed uncertainly and continued his way to the upper floors, mindful of any sign hanging around this time.

He placed Kiba and Lee in a room with a half conscious Hyuuga and a boy he suspected to be Choji, but was at the same time way to thin to be Choji. Parting from Shikamaru and Kakashi he found an unused room and laid Tayuya in the bed there. The upper rooms were reserved for high value personal and for that reason not yet fully occupied until there was no other way. He left her a note in case she'd wake up and sealed off the room. Who knew who else could tell she was from Sound?

Room 540 was the topmost room in the hospital. And it was reserved for the Hokage. Naruto rushed up the stairs and passed the guards at the door without even acknowledging them. In the small antechamber he meet Shizune who was frantically sorting through medicines and medical equipment.

"Naruto!" Shizune appeared exhausted and extremely stressed out. "Lady Tsunade needs you inside!" She ushered him into the room without another word. Naruto braced himself for the worst.

He still froze when he saw the third Hokage lying there on the hospital bed.

The man had been like a grandfather to him, had trusted him with his burden, his heritage, taught him so many things and helped him through one of his darkest moments. He-

"Naruto! Brat! Kami dammit move!" Tsunade's desperate voice snapped him out of his paralysis as she stood over the mans still form and poured unholy amounts of medical chakra into a wound in the middle of Hiruzen's chest.

Immediately Naruto's eyes lit up golden, actually shining, as a red hue illuminated the room and an invisible wind rustled through his hair. With two ongs strieds he made it to the side of Hiruzen's bed and let his eyes take in the damage as his hands reached out and he positioned them besides Tsunade's. The damage was extreme but less so than what Tayuya had survived. Many of his bones where broken, internal bleedings just about everywhere. The chest wound had grazed his heart, the muscle, to be more precise. There was also some kind of powerful poison inside his chakra coils that originated from a seal on the man's stomach. Not waiting his time for a detailed analysis, Naruto let his chakra flow out of his palms and envelope his grandfather-figure. As soon as he had a full grasp on him Tsunade collapsed onto the tile floor, breathing heavily. Her permanent henge had dropped, but out of respect for the woman no one in the room looked at her as Shizune helped her get into a chair where she sat down heavily.

The poison in the coils refused to be removed and Naruto frowned, trying to get rid of the seal instead by replacing the skin it was burned into with knew cells. The man was by now bodily fine but the poison was still trying to kill him, eating away at the man's chakra and corroding his blood. Snarling, Naruto poured even more chakra into fighting the poison. Hiruzen's coils were collapsing as fast as Naruto rebuild them.

"What the hell is this seal?!" Naruto bit out though his clenched teeth. "I can't remove it!"

Tsunade was still gasping for breath as she answered. "It's... the reaper... _Reaper Death Seal_!"

Naruto laughed dryly. "You are kidding right?" He looked away for a second but Tsunade didn't appear be kidding. She had passed out. "Shit."

Now the poison seemed to began fighting back as the seal on Hiruzen's stomach began to burn into the mans skin. Gritting his teeth and dividing his attention between fighting the poison and preventing the seal from burning straight through the mans abdomen. He lost track of time as his exhaustion mounted, sweat pouring from his face. The red skin that accompanied his healing began to retreat, where it once covered his arms up to his shoulder, it was now below his elbows. The glow in his eyes was steadily diming and flecks of violet appeared in them.

"Come on... Come on!" he pressed though clenched teeth. "Live you damn old man!"

His skin recolored further, only his hands were remaining red now and his eyes had lost their golden shimmer entirely. Blood began to drip from his nose as he struggled to remain conscious with every harsh, rattled breath. He wasn't going to make it. The old man, Hiruzen Sarutobi was going to die. In silent horror he watched as the red color more and more faded, it crawled slowly down to his fingertips and Naruto's word begun to spin.

But just as he was about to pass out a hand slapped hard onto his back, pulling him back into a fully alert state. He opened his dry mouth to cures violently when a mass of chakra surged into him from behind.

The ANBU guard that had been silent and unmoving since Naruto had entered stood behind him, mask discarded behind her on the floor. The purple haired woman scowled fiercely. "I don't know how long you can keep this up or if it will have any results at all, but I'll be damned if I just stand by and watch!" she practically snarled and poured her chakra even more into him. The red crept back up his hands and he pushed on against the seal. He could feel it loosing it's power!

But all to soon the woman behind him grunted and collapsed to her knees, hand slipping of his back.

Naruto bit down hard on his tongue so he'd not pass out on the spot as his vision swam and his legs began to gave in. Then, as he believed it all to be over, the door was blown open and an array of ninja barged into the room, Shizune at the front. "Lend him your chakra!" she commanded, "Hold nothing back!"

Hand after hand slammed into his back harder than necessary as chakra from 9 different sources flooded his systems and he sucked it up like a sponge, pouring it against the poison, against the seal. Naruto growled, snarled and finally let out a guttural scream as the room lit up in gold that exploded into white, blinding everyone in the room.

Naruto fell backwards, no longer able to remain standing. He was unconscious before he was caught by those behind him.

"Father!" Asuma Sarutobi dragged himself forward, barely enough chakra left to move.

Hiruzen Sarutobi lay still on his back, the seal still burned into his stomach... but, it was... white?

Suddenly the silence of the room was split by the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor that stood besides the bed.

The Hokage was alive!

The cheering was heard throughout all of the village.

Naruto jerked away but a minute after he had passed out. Immediately after he sat up he was pulled in a hug far to crushing for his liking.

"You saved him! You saved him, kami dammit! You did it kid!" Asuma was shouting his utmost gratitude at him, tears streaming from the usually so collected man's eyes.

"Air, please!" he croaked and was immediately released. He hadn't much time to wonder how he could wake up after all that so fast when his senses stung once more.

Someone was hammering away at one of his barriers. The one here in the hospital. Who the hell would be thick enough to try and get into that room now by force? Naruto pushed himself up and untangled himself from all the thankful handshakes and manky hugs. The green guy made him uncomfortable. He stumbled own the the stairs and hurried down the corridor to room 432 where he had left Tayuya sealed and safe in his barrier. With a snarl on his lips he shoved the door open, wondering who would have the gall to attack an unconscious girl just like that.

"Give back Sasuke!"

Naruto winced at the volume of the screech and was somehow not really surprised to see Sasura hammering away at the barrier. Inside, on the floor and propped against a wall of the barrier farthest away from the oink haired girl, was Tayuya. She looked absolutely out of it, probably terrified to some degree but there was such a defiant scowl in her features. His cloak was still wrapped around her and she held onto it for dear life.

Sakura was just about to smash her fist against the barrier once more but Naruto lifted his stuff and caught her arm by the elbow, effectively ending her punch before she could even throw it.

"Cut it out, Sakura!" he growled. He had no understanding for those who attacked the incapacitated for no real reason.

The girl jumped in surprise and swiped her fist at him. He caught it dead on, not even flinching and pushing her back. She stumbled against the far wall and finally looked properly at him. "Naruto!?" she shouted in disbelief.

He rolled his eyes at her, there was no time for this. "Yes, yes. Now leave the room will you?"

She gaped at him. "When did you-? Hey, hold up! What do you mean leave the room!" She sneered at the girl begind my barrier. "She kidnapped Sasuke! She shoudl go to prison this instant!"

"She can't walk, Sakura! Now get the hell out of here!"

"I don't care!" she screamed, voice rising higher and higher in volume and pitch, "SHE TOOK SASUKE FROM ME! SHE-!"

 _ **"ENOUGH!"**_

Sakura crumpled under the blazing golden gaze Naruto shot her, his voice rumbling like thunder against the wall of the hospital room. "Get. Out." He emphasized each word and then slammed his staff hard enough onto the tiles to crack them. "NOW!"

Sakura gave a pathetic whimper and stumbled out of the room as fast as she could.

Naruto took a deep breath and turned back to his barrier. Tayuya's scowl had lessened in intensity but her features still held little else than resentment. Sighing, he opened up the barrier a little and stepped inside.

 **XXXXXX**

There was that guy again. The guy that had healed her, saved her from death. The guy that had... fucking kissed her! Tayuya watched him talk to the crazy pink haired girl that had hammered relentlessly against this red wall that imprisoned her, or in this case, protected her. The girl screamed at him but she couldn't hear what she said until suddenly the room shook as the redhead slammed his staff down into the tiles and shouted "Enough!" loud enough even for her to hear. She was ashamed to admit to herself that she had flinched. This guy was powerful. After pinky fled the room, a hole opened in the wall and he stepped inside, instantly, the hole closed up again.

Well damn, no running away- Oh right, she couldn't feel her damn legs!

He stared at her, not saying a word, just watching her sitting ther on the floor.

"What?" she finally spat, "Gonna continue having your fun with me now?"

He scowled somewhat fiercely at her, his jaw clenched. He exhaled and tapped his staff to the ground softly. As the sound reached her ears she was already aware that she was once again floating. She tried her hardest not to look uneasy there, suspended midair, but not five seconds later she was sitting on the bed again.

"You can't move your legs right?" It was a rhetorical question, so she didn't answer and apparently, he hadn't expected her too. "I will fix that, I was interrupted twice before. Just hope I can still do it in one go."

She sneered once more. "What, gonna eat my face of again?"

He shrugged. "If you want, but it isn't necessary for the healing."

Shit, she flushed and looked away, additionally drawing the cloak up to over her nose.

"Also," he continued, "I will need to find you some clothes. I want my cloak back, after all."

Tayuya stared at him as he leaned his staff against the nightstand at her bedside. And then he waited. "W-What?" she asked after he stared at her for a good minute.

"Do you want me to heal you?" he asked.

Huh? How was that a serious question! "Of course!" she barked out. She needed her legs to get out of there and-... And then what?

He smiled softly at her and nodded. "Lay down then. And no worries, you can keep the cloak." He winked. "For now."

Her left eye merely twitched. Was that guy serious? Was he in all honesty _flirting with her_!? She laid down, trying not to think about it.

He towered over her prone form and she tensed as his hands once more hovered inches from her body. He noticed, or so it seemed, because a frown appeared momentarily across his impassive face but she had nearly missed it. "Relax," he said, "The only thing you will fell is warmth and the feeling in your legs once this is over. Still I must ask you not to move. You do remember what happened last time, right?"

Tayuya didn't respond, just stared at the white ceiling.

He didn't say anything more as she was once more bathed in the soothing golden shine. Her toes began to tingle and slowly, ever so slowly, the tingle crept up her legs. A smile made it's way onto her lips- but then it stopped, her seal flared painfully and the feeling in her legs vanished. Her breathing was cut short as her bones felt like they were about to shatter and-

"What the-," was all she heard from the redhead before the warmth shifted, concentrating into her neck and the pain vanished.

She was breathing heavily, laying there in cold sweat as she tied to regain her bearings. Her eyes flicked to him as his golden eyes glared intensely at her neck.

"What the hell is that?" he finally asked.

Tayuya frowned. "A hickey, you idiot! What do you think it is!?"

"Whatever it is, it's attacking your mind, your chakra and even your nervous system. And its... evil, dark. Is that how Orochimaru forces his will on you?"

"Its his fucking mark, what do you _think_ it does?"

Now it was his time to frown. "Right, right. I suppose you aren't attached to it?"

She sat up abruptly and glared at him. "Attached to it!? That fucking thing is burned into my freaking neck! Into my freaking _mind_! I couldn't get rid of it if I cut it out of there with a rusty kunai! I fucking tried!" she shouted. Tayuya fell back, breathing heavily and tears stinging her eyes. She blinked them away mercilessly. Kami above, why was she so exhausted?

"The you won't mind if I take it off," hes stated and extended his hand once more but Tayuya threw herself into a sitting position again.

"Are you fucking kidding me? No one can remove this shitty seal. No one!"

He sighed. "Tayuya, right? My name is Uzumaki Naruto and today, I stopped the _Reaper Death Seal_ from taking a live. Taking that thing of you will be a walk in the park by comparison."

"Huh?" was all of a response she could manage.

"Or so she says," Naruto quipped and gently pushed her back down onto the pillow. "I will put my hand on it."

She had not time to react before his palm was already falt on her neck. Her whole body froze, as if her blood had just frozen.

Her wide eyes could see Naruto frown for a second before he applied pressure to her neck and her body was flooded with warmth once more. And then he just removed his hand.

"What the hell was-!" Her words died on her lips as he held his palm up for her to see. There, smack dab in the middle of his hand, was her cursed seal. She gaped as he made a fist with the hand and black dust trickled out between his fingers. Opening his hand again... it was gone.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed and grabbed her neck. It wasn't there anymore! She couldn't feel it - _him_ anymore! She was free! Free from his whispering words, the pain and the enslavement!

And then she remembered that she still couldn't walk and was in a village she had invaded not twenty-four hours prior.

Bummer.

 **A/N: Okay, clearing this up, this story here will be NarutoXTayuya so I'm Sorry NaruHina fans, I took a break from that.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Guardian**

"What do you mean, I can't heal her!"

Tsunade sighed as Naruto paced in front of her. Now that things had settled down again, it was time to bring things in order once more. With Hiruzen still out cold it had fallen to her to step up and become Hokage, if only because a white haired pervert was suspiciously absent from the voting that took place in that regard. She had found Naruto hurrying through the hospital, healing whomever needed it the most and finally managed to stop him as he was about to reenter the room his latest patient was sheltered in. And as far as Tsunade knew, the girl had been one of Orochimaru's and, given that the snake bastard had invaded Konoha, a prisoner of war.

"She can give us valuable information," she said, leaning against the wall of Tayuya's room as the girl was laying asleep behind the barrier Naruto refused to take down. "Holding something like her ability to walk over her can give us-"

"Oh no, you won't!" he interrupted her. "You will not hold her health over her as an incentive! I won't let you! I actually don't give a damn if you want me to heal her or not! I am going to do it! One way or another!"

"As Hokage I order you-!"

"Bite me, granny! I am not a ninja of this village right now!Actually, I never was!" he snapped at her, slamming his staff hard on the floor. "I heal people! That is all I do and all I _can_ do, you should know! Besides, she is no danger to anyone! You don't get to tell me who has a right to be healed and who hasn't!"

Tsunade growled. How could one kid be so damn stubborn! "She is a prisoner of Konoha, Naruto," she replied with forced calm.

"And that's where you're wrong!" he grinned, something that unsettled Tsunade greatly, "She's in the custody of the Uzumaki clan, namely me! And don't try and give me the 'Clan has obligations to the village'-crap because the Uzumaki do not reside in the damn village!"

"Why are you doing this?" Tsunade hissed in annoyance, itching to hit him but she knew he could deflect her and that would probably blow up the hospital. "She's just some girl you found in the forest!"

He shook his head. "That's no the point! And if it where some sound guy, I'd heal him, fully and completely, if he was not out to harm anyone!" He pointed at Tayuya. "She had her mind and body violated by this disgusting piece of seal on her neck for eight years! _Eight freaking years_ , woman! She had no choice in what she was doing!" Naruto shook his head once more. "This is about you trying to stop me from healing someone, granny, not about-"

"The red hair?" Tsunade quipped, smirking. Naruto's teeth clacked loudly as he abruptly shut his mouth.

"Yeah... that," he grumbled, looking away.

The acting Hokage threw her hands up. "Fine, have it your way, but she is your problem now. We will still approach you for questioning later and I won't be deterred then, Naruto."

She walked briskly out of the room, leaving Naruto behind who still held a bundle under his arms. It were some clothes he had had gotten from the hospital laundry. They would suffice for now. He sighed and stepped through his barrier. Tayuya was still sleeping off the fatigue of having her body (mostly) restored. It took a great deal of energy out of someone to be healed like that. Approaching her sleeping form he intended to wake her and touched her shoulder.

In an instant she had his wrist in a vice like grip and backed away from him, a snarl on her lips before her eyes even fully focused on him. He didn't flinch, however, and simply waited for her to regain her bearings. She pulled her hand back as if she's been burnt, pulling his cloak even further up on her as she regarded him wearily.

"Don't fucking do that," she mumbled eventually. "How long was I out?"

Naruto shrugged. "Two or three hours, I guess. You fell asleep before I got to heal your legs. I took the opportunity to help out with the other patients." He rubbed the back of his head. "Damn nurses wouldn't stop bothering me..."

Tayuya snorted. "I bet." Look at him in his tight fitting shirt... She shook her head. Not the right time for thought like that. "So, my fucking legs, gonna heal them?" It made her feel uneasy that she couldn't run away if she needed to, and she still was in any enemy village. Still, why was he...?

Leaning his staff at her nightstand, he nodded. "Finally, huh?" he grinned. "Lay down then."

He set about to rekindle the nerves in her legs but Tayuya didn't move, she just stared down into her lap.

"What?" he asked with a frown.

"Why...?" she whispered, "Why are you doing this for me?"

Naruto took his hands back. "Why shouldn't I?"

Tayuya shook her head, scowling up at him. "Because I fucking attacked your village! Hell, I killed a few of you guys! Why would you fucking heal my legs? Why am I not rotting in a god damn cell!?"

The male redhead sighed. Did she not want to be healed? Was it really that hard to believe that its just what he does? Its not like Naruto could do all that much aside from healing or protecting people. He wasn't an expert on mental damage, really, that was out of his reach, but he could tell when the mind was affecting the body. Tayuya had been in a mentally clouded state up until Naruto had removed the seal from her. With the regained clearance of her own mind, the amount of thinking - and most of all overthinking - she was doing had about tripled, if not more. Now he had to give her a clear reason as to why he would heal her without as much as a second thought...

"I love you."

"Denied!"

He blinked. "What?"

"What?" she echoed, tilting her head. Naruto coughed nervously.

"Okay, okay, let's make a deal," he said eventually. Her eyes narrowed.

"What kind of deal?" she asked. Deals had never ended all that well for her in the past.

Naruto held up his hand and let the golden light emit from his palm. "I'll heal your legs and you tell me everything you know of Orochimaru and his plans."

"Just like that?" Tayuya asked, eyes wide. "What's the catch?"

Naruto groaned. "There is no catch, girl! I heal people, that's what I do! Hell, I'd even heal you without the information part but Konoha's gonna hound you for it as soon as you get out of here!"

"But-"

"But nothing!" Naruto snapped. "Don't make me knock you out! Just lay down and let me heal your friggin' legs or I'll get Tsunade to heal you, believe it!" He smirked darkly. "And she won't be as gentle..."

Tayuya paled. "Tsunade of the Sannin?"

Naruto just raised an imploring eyebrow and extended his hands once more. With a disgruntled sound, Tayuya laid down again and squeezed her eyes shut.

As Naruto began channeling his chakra the door was blown open and a bunch of ANBU followed by an older man, half his head covered bandages and one arm hung in his black robe as if in a sling. A cross shaped scar on his chin and a cane in one hand he strut inside the room with an aura of command around him.

"How come I am always interrupted?" he muttered and turned to face them.

Tayuya sat up once more and looked around. As she spotted the man outside of the barrier she hissed and covered herself nearly completely in Naruto's cloak. He seemed somewhat familiar. After a moment of silence she relaxed a little.

"Does he know we can't hear him?" she asked, staring at the one eyed man as his mouth moved without any sound reaching them.

Naruto chuckled. "No, he doesn't."

"You Konoha people are stupid," Tayuya sighed.

"Hey, I'm not affiliated with Konoha at the moment."

"You aren't!?"

Naruto smirked at her. "Well, no. I left the village about three years ago and never became a shinobi in the first place. My citizenship was annulled after I was gone for a year."

Tayuya frowned. "How are you not a shinobi?"

He shrugged. "I can't fight."

"Bullshit!"

"It's the truth," Naruto replied evenly. "Anyways, these ANBU don't look all too friendly and the crippled one...ah, I don't remember seeing him before."

"You... you aren't going to let them in?"

With a frown towards the man outside he said, "I don't know who he is and currently, you are my patient. A long as I haven't healed you, no one will get to harm you."

"Patient? That all I am, dick head?" she muttered into his cloak.

"Right now, yes." Tayuya jumped, she didn't think he had heard her. "I don't really know you apart from the fact that you are damn hard to kill and swear worse than any sailor I ever met."

"Fuck you..."

"As expected," Naruto chuckled.

Outside of the barrier, Shimura Danzo was not having a good day. The invasion had ended not ten hours ago and, as it appeared, he had talked non stop to a soundproof barrier for about three minutes, firmly believing that they would hear him. He had declared Tayuya a prisoner of Konoha despite Tsunade having left her to the mercy of the Uzumaki clan. The woman had claimed that questioning would take place in due time but Danzo wasn't one to wait around. He had gathered some ANBU and, in the name of the village, barged into the hospital room, his speech fully laid out in his head. Just that it now had all been in vain. Suddenly the barrier dropped and Danzo prepared himself to begin anew.

He was interrupted though.

"You say something?" the Uzumaki asked in a tone quite so reminiscent of a certain silver haired Jonin.

"I am-!" he began loudly, barely containing the anger in his voice but as he had spoken the barrier went up again and became opaque. Danzo's visible eye twitched violently. Then, as he intended to knock against the barrier with his cane, writing appeared on the surface of the barrier.

 _"The Uzumaki council is in session. Please form a line while you wait. Your inadequate requests will be ignored in an official ceremony shortly."_

One of the ANBU snorted but quickly shrank back as Danzo glared at him.

Inside the barrier, Tayuya raised an eyebrow at the snickering Naruto. "What?" she asked. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Let's get you out of here. We can send your testament by scroll anyways."

"And how do we get out of here, dumb ass? There are ANBU outside!" She bit back the question as to why he would get her out in the first place. This guy seemed to nice to be genuine.

"You'll see," Naruto said, smirking evilly.

 **XXXXXX**

Tsunade knew something was wrong when Danzo immediately accepted her words and limped away. Naruto was about to do something stupid, so stupid that she could feel it in her liver. And her liver had never wronged her. Well... aside from that one time she woke up so hangover she couldn't move for three days straight. But that was besides the point.

The last time something like this happened she had met Naruto for the first time. Well, found is more accurate. Tsunade had found him floating in a river, bleeding and broken, after he had tried to protect a village upstream from a bunch of bandits. His barriers hadn't been as strong then as they were now and they broke though. They got him good before he managed to knock out the last one with one of his suppression seals. When she dragged him out of the water and asked Shizunae to tend to him she could already see his wounds heal at a rate about a thousand times faster than any other human's would, even faster than she could regenerate.

And as the feeling settled in further, suddenly red light fell into her office. "What the hell?" she asked aloud and turned around. "What is that?"

Floating in front of a window of the hospital was a glowing red door. It shone so incredibly bright that the people passing on the street had to shield their eyes. She could see Naruto step onto the windowsill and push the glowing doorway open, but as he stepped into it, he didn't reappear on the other side. Tsunade's jaw dropped when Tayuya, squirming and winding against invisible bonds, floated after him. Then the door shut without a sound and vanished as if it had never been there in the first place.

"This little bastard!" she snarled out of the window, her voice echoing through all of Konoha.

Far, Far away on an island surrounded by whirlpools, a redhead crackled maniacally.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Guardian**

Tayuya chocked on her scream when the red light turned so bright it blinded her completely. Pressure from all around crashed down on her as if she had suddenly been dragged deep underwater. And before she could even wonder what the fuck was going on, it was all over. She opened her eyes and saw the blue sky above her. The sky, and the grinning face of one Naruto Uzumaki, to whom she clung to like a lifeline. Instantly, she let go of him and pushed, only to yelp in surprise when she nearly fell off him. Without any feelings in her legs, the suspect of dropping to the ground was a lot more unpleasant.

"Fuck!" she cursed, swatting at him. "Let me down!"

He grinned. "As you wish."

And true to his words, he just let go of her. But before she could even begin to fall, she was suspended midair. The uncomfortable, weightless feeling in her stomach returned and she watched as her legs dangled awkwardly about in front of her. With another flash of red, she and Naruto were inside one of his barriers.

"Now, finally, I can go on and heal these legs of yours. Stay still."

Tayuya nodded, she wasn't about to complain. As Naruto extended his hands, she took a moment to look around. Even though her surroundings were tinted red through the barrier, she could tell that they were amidst a city. Or whatever was left of it.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked.

The golden light flooded her body with unrivaled comfort. She sighed in content, hoping he hadn't noticed. "We are in Uzushio," Naruto told her, his eyes a shining golden color. Dear lord, these eyes... Tayuya caught herself staring and quickly looked away.

She could feel the tingling sensation return to her legs, as it crept down her thighs, down over her knees until it finally reached her toes. Suddenly, as if it had been connected in an instant, a jolt shot back from her toes all the way up her spine to her brain. She grunted in and was surprised when her legs obeyed her once more. She drew her knees up to her chest and enjoyed the feeling of her own legs finally being returned to her. Slowly, gently, she drifted down to the ground until she was sat down carefully. With a shaky breath, she pushed herself up. Standing on her own feet felt foreign for a moment, but then she grinned.

"Fuck yeah!" she cheered, tapping her feet on the ground and jumping a little for emphasis.

"Glad you like it," Naruto chuckled.

Tayuya took a few more steps, enjoying the breeze of the ocean dance all around her. _Uzushio, huh?_ , she wondered, looking around the ruins.

Admits the destroyed houses one caught her eye. It appeared completely intact and stood out like a sore thumb. Two stories tall and made from limestone with a red, dome-like roof it was the oddest house she had ever seen. Was this how the Uzumaki built things? Also, who lived there? She turned to Naruto, who was curiously watching her, his eyes this unsettling shade of violet that sent shivers down her spine.

"What?" she asked, feeling like she was about to squirm under his gaze.

He shrugged, finally taking his eyes off her and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Nothing, really. I just wondered what you are going to do now."

She stared blankly back at him. That was a good question. What the hell now? She was free, finally free but only now it occurred to her that she had not the faintest of ideas on what to do with her freedom.

Noting her frown, Naruto walked up to her. "You don't have to decide now," he said, "You can come with me, you know? Travel around and stuff." Being a clan head sounded boring as hell anyways after all the traveling and he was sure Tsunade could handle things without him being in the village. Not that his presence would have meant anything but more paperwork. He shrugged internally. She would be thankful later. Right now, he didn't feel like confining himself to the village. Then again, he had promised to the Third that he would return. But he had, hadn't he? If only for a few hours...

"Really?" Tayuya's voice broke him out of his musings.

"Yeah," he said lightly, "Why not? You don't have anything better to do, do you now?"

She frowned. "Well, no... but aren't you going to be in Konoha or some shit?"

He laughed uncertainly at the thought. "Nah... I am in no mood to be bred just yet." It wasn't like it was bound to happen, but it was an unpleasant possibility.

Tayuya grimaced a little. The idea of treating people like cattle was revolting. Had been and always would be. "No shit..."

"Yeah... so you better not let them get their hands on your blood. Your genes are a near perfect match to mine."

She glared at him. "How the fuck do you even know that!?"

Balancing on his staff, Naruto scratched his chin. "Oh I know a whole lot about you. Medical wise, that is. Like how you are allergic to walnuts and how you indulge in alcohol ever so often. Or that you are due to have your period in two days. Or how you are a virgin-"

"Alright, OK! I fucking get it!" she shouted. "Damn perv..." She tried to kick his shin but he simply stepped back.

Naruto laughed and shouldered his staff. "So, will you go with me? You are free to leave at anytime."

It was at least something, Tayuya thought, and it wasn't like she had anything better to do. Her Father was dead and her mother would never want to see her again, after all. She shook her head. Going with the Uzumaki seemed like a good idea to see what she was going to do now. There was also the fact the he would probably protect her from Orochimaru's grasp. She never ever under no circumstances whatsoever go back to that _creature_.

"I guess," she said eventually, not meeting his eyes. "Where would we go anyways?"

Naruto hummed in thought. "Well, I'd say west but that's just me."

Tayuya groaned. Had this been such a good idea?

* * *

The woman ran up to them, clothes torn and feet bare while crying her eyes out.

"Please!" she begged, "Please, please you must help us!" She threw herself at Naruto, clinging to his cloak. "The village... by kami my sister!"

She would have probably ranted on had Naruto not shushed her with a finger. "It's alright," he said, "lead the way."

Tayuya raised an eyebrow. "You gonna help her?"

Naruto turned to grin at her. "It's what I do!"

The woman, named something Tayuya didn't catch, was dragging them through the thicket at the coast shortly past the bridge between the land of fire and the wave island. According to her, a group of bandits had plagued their lands and the village. A group of Konoha shinobi had disposed of them but the village never recovered. Famine and sickness had befallen the village months ago, medical supplies were no longer available and most of the villagers had fallen ill already.

She, the woman whose name Tayuya could for the life of her not remember, was one of the few adults that could still move about so she set out to find help from the next village, namely the wave village. How this woman thought one guy could help her instead of continuing her original way was beyond Tayuya. Maybe the woman was already that sick and she was no longer thinking clearly, because Naruto certainly didn't appear like some miracle worker. Though he did look rather handsome-... She shook her head. Hopefully they were going in the right direction...

But suddenly Naruto tensed. His eyes lit up in solid gold so brightly they glowed.

"This way," he said, unceremoniously picking up the distressed woman who squeaked in surprise, veering to the right of their original path. He took off fast, Tayuya had trouble keeping up with him. Not five minutes later they broke out of the forest and saw the village ahead.

It appeared like a ghost town as they hurried through the empty streets and were led into the biggest mansion-like house, probably the town hall, of the village. Once the door opened Tayuya had to swallow back the bile that rose when she saw the people.

The stench of sweat, blood and bile was thick in the hall that had been transformed into a field hospital. More than a hundred people lay strewn around on mats and futons, their faces a disturbing purple color, their veins visible underneath their discolored skin. Blood leaked from eyes and nose and the apparent worst case was even bleeding from his ears and his eyes were nearly liquefied by whatever illness was killing him.

When the woman hurried to the side of her evidently sick sister, Naruto held a piece of cloth out to her.

"Cover your mouth and nose," he instructed, his eyes roaming fiercely over all of the people that laid out before him. They settled on the group at the very back, separated from the rest by a canvas.

The children.

He briskly walked by the moaning, coughing and whimpering people, only ever stopping by the man that appeared already dead to Tayuya. She grimaced when he jammed his palm hard against his chest. Much to her surprise, the man coughed suddenly, spitting some black liquid all over himself but he was breathing again. All the while Naruto was already continuing on his way to the children. Frowning, Tayuya followed after him.

"It's the wanderer...!" a hoarse voice rasped, a shaking finger pointing at Naruto.

"Thank the gods!" another woman sobbed before breaking into a coughing fit.

"We are saved!" she heard a man gasp.

Tayuya passed the woman that had led them here and stopped. "Say... why do they call him " _wanderer_ "?" she asked.

She responded with a teary smile as she held her sister's hand. "You don't know? He's a healer, a man that wanders the land of fire and helps whomever he comes across." She beamed at Tayuya. "They say he healed a man that had been cleft in twain and revived a stillborn child! I cannot believe he's actually here!"

The woman's sister coughed but smiled all the same, revealing blackened teeth. "Yes...," she rasped out painfully, "The wanderer cloaked in white with hair as red as blood and eyes of gold! We believed him a legend..."

"I... see," Tayuya said, frowning in Naruto's direction. What the actual fuck was that guy? And who in their right mind use the word _twain_ these days? Healing those guys' mental ticks could be harder than that thing with the stillborn child. If that was true, that is.

Said wanderer was talking and smiling with the group of about 30 children, all the while he glowed like the fucking sun and acted as if everything was perfectly fine while the children looked at him in awe. He was literally _radiating_ chakra. The closer she got the more she felt it. The waves of warmth that washed over her... It sizzled through her veins and invaded every part of her body, conjuring up an unrivaled feeling of comfort. She suppressed the urge to sigh in pleasure and stepped up to his side.

Much to her surprise, the children didn't even look half as sick as they had when she first saw them. In fact, aside from tired eyes and all that black fluid they had coughed out and onto their clothes, they appeared perfectly fine. A girl, probably no older than five, was sitting in Naruto's lap as he regaled them with a tale of an ice prince and a demon with a huge sword. He looked up and waved her over to him.

"Hey there," he said cheerfully and stood, much to the little girls aggravation, causing her to pout. He stepped towards her and suddenly the cheerful mood vanished from his features, replaced by a deep frown. "Take care of them, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer and hurried to heal the rest of the people.

His staff was still there, leaned against the stool he had been sitting on. She didn't really know what that thing could do but before these children would begin to float all about she would take it herself. With the staff in hand (which appeared to lightly vibrate in her hands) she first realized that she had been left alone with more than thirty kids to look after.

"Fuck," she spat. She never much interacted with children that weren't test subjects or didn't try to murder her in her sleep.

The little girl that had been in Naruto's lap tugged on her pant leg. "Hey hey, big sister! What does fuck mean?"

Tayuya paled considerably. She would get back at him for this!

* * *

Two hours later she found Naruto outside of the hall, sitting on the stairs that led up to the entrance, looking up at the moon. Better to avoid questions on the addition to the children's vocabulary. Oh boy, the parents were not amused. Well, at least little Izumi was now a verbal force to be reckoned with. She stood behind him and tapped his back with her foot.

"The wanderer, huh?"

A dry chuckle was all she got in response followed by a sigh. She smiled a little, he was strange modest even though she remembered him claim that he was the best healer there was. Idiot. Tayuya looked down at the staff she still carried around, it's gentle hum was calming her considerably. Shaking her head, she held it out to him.

Naruto jumped as if she had hit him when the staff entered his field of vision. He stared at her with wide eyes. "You... you can... touch it!?"

"Well, what the fuck else am I doing?" she snorted, giving it a twirl.

"Uhm... wow," he said unintelligibly. "That... uh... should not be possible."

Tayuya frowned. "Why not?"

He took it from her, staring at it as if to decide if that was the same staff. "For one, only I should be able to touch it but I did use a lot of power to restore you so that might confuse the seals but aside from that only a guardian or an Uzumaki should be able to touch it."

Looking at the staff, Tayuya found nothing special about it aside from the Uzumaki spiral on top an the smooth engraved seals in the wood. "Well fuck me sideways. And what does that mean for me?" she asked, slightly amused by his loss of composure.

Naruto scratched his head with the staff's metal top, causing the golden metal rings to jiggle lightly. "No clue but you are no Uzumaki, that much is clear."

"And what would happen if someone else touched it? 'Cause if you leave that shit lying around like that there's a lot of people probably touching it."

Naruto grinned. "That's the art of it! No one could ever even think about it!" He twirled it behind his back with both hands. "That thing is ancient, no idea how old exactly, but every guardian since it had been made infused that thing with his chakra and added another seal to it. And there are nineteen seals on that one. I can't even tell you what they all do, most of them are so bloody complicated I can't even decipher the half of it but they do some pretty cool stuff."

"Like the floating?" she asked. She yelped a little when she suddenly hovered a bit above the ground. She glared at him.

"Yeah, that," he said, smiling at her. "I'm sure there's a lot more but I haven't figured that out yet aside from this neat portal thing."

"That's nice and all," Tayuya said, "but why don't you FUCKING LET ME DOWN!?"

He laughed loudly and stepped back out of her reach when she touched ground. "Fuck you," she grumbled at him. as she reset her clothes. "So this is what you do all day?" she asked. "Purging epidemics and rescuing people?"

Naruto shrugged. "Its what I do. Unfortunately its also the only thing I can do." He looked seriously at her. "I meant what I said. I can't fight. Can't punch someone in the face to save my life. Though I probably could to safe someone else's..."

Tayuya snorted. "That's just messed up. What the hell are you?"

He smiled ruefully. "A guardian," he said softly, looking up at the stars. "And the last one at that."

"Mhm. And you gonna be dead pretty soon if you keep messing with Tsunade like that. If she is anywhere near as strong as that snake bastard, you're ground meat," Tayuya told him, crossing her arms.

Chuckling sheepishly he looked at her again. "You know... you might be right. I may have overstepped my bounds with just upping and leaving like that..."

* * *

In the Hokage's office, behind several stacks of papers that were to be filed though because a planned event had come undone, Tsunade was plotting the death of one Naruto Uzumaki. And he'd better have sake on him when she next saw him...

The door opened and Shizune pocked her head inside. "Lady Tsunade, the council men want to discuss further actions."

Tsunade groaned and let her head hit the desk. "You better wake up fast Hiruzen or we're gonna have two Kage in a damn coma..."

* * *

Naruto quickly scribbled something down in a scroll the next morning. He dropped it into a red glowing sphere he had created. It zoomed of at remarkable speed, heading for Konoha.

"Well," he said, "that ought to keep her of our back for now."

"It's just a few of the locations," Tayuya said, "not even all of them. Won't she be mad?"

He shrugged. "She's pissed anyways."

Tayuya shook her head. "For the last of your clan, you are somewhat suicidal."

"Hey!" Naruto huffed indignantly, "I take offense at that!"

"Whatever Mr. _wanderer_ ," she said, stressing the word, "Where to next?"

A smile crept on his lips. Tayuya swallowed, her heart beat faster and she bit the inside of her cheek."You ever been to suna?"

Tayuya suspected that the desert wouldn't be the only heat problem she'd have to deal with.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Guardian**

Tayuya never knew just how far Suna was from their current position. They literally had to go all through the Land of Fire. And Tayuya was no fan of that, not at all. And the whole thing took even longer because they were stopped in every damn village or settlement by people that required Naruto's help. Never before had Tayuya seen a woman give birth and was forced to admit that it had been a strangely wondrous thing to witness but after the twelfth time... Well, she doubted that she herself ever wanted to put herself through that torment, though it seemed that Naruto was quite skilled at making it less painful than it usually was.

"You are so lucky," the sister of one of Naruto's patients had said, "traveling with a man like him!" She eyed her hair for a moment, then smiled, as if relieved. "Are you perhaps his sister?"

For reasons beyond Tayuya's grasp, the suggestion offended her. His _sister_! Fuck no! She was his-! His...? Oh... well. Thinking about it, Tayuya had no idea how to describe herself in that situation. Traveling companion, most likely. Ex patient. Dare she say friend? Nah, she didn't have friends. Tayuya doesn't do friends. And because that sounded just as stupid in her head as she thought, she responded with, "No, I'm not his damn sister! I just travel with him!"

The woman just shrugged and went on her way. It was infuriating Tayuya and she could not explain why!

They came across a village, intending to stay there for a good rest. It was almost surprising Tayuya at this point that Naruto could actually tire himself out. She had seen him regrow a torn off arm and had just after that cured what was supposed to be a terminal case of pneumonia. He didn't even break a sweat. So when he threw his cloak onto a chair in their two bed room and immediately fell asleep after his head hit the pillow, she was suspicious.

"You alright?" she tried to ask nonchalantly when he woke up the next day.

Naruto looked at her with a calculative look in his eyes that took her aback. He grinned. "Quite fine, seeing you just after waking."

She snorted and threw her left shoe at him. "Shithead," she labeled him before pilfering the bag she had acquired in the last village for something edible.

He laughed and threw his cloak over his shoulders. "Come on," he said, pocking her behind with the monk staff, "We will find something to eat in the village. Whatever is in there, not even I could save that!"

She rolled her eyes and batted the staff away. "Very funny, miracle boy."

Tayuya enjoyed the way he grimaced at the nickname.

It was one of the bigger villages (Konoha aside) that one could find in the Land of Fire, not too far from the village hidden in the leafs and therefore quite rich. The market was unusually busy and, as in any other village they had passed, Tayuya noticed people pointing and staring at Naruto. How in the world had she never heard of him? He was some kind of national celebrity. He could do really crazy things. Which reminded her...

Tayuya tapped his shoulder as they moved towards what seemed to be a small cafe. "You mind telling me why we don't use that fancy door of yours to travel?"

He looked at her as if the answer was obvious. When Tayuya just raised an impatient eyebrow at him, he sighed. "If I would just travel like that, I couldn't heal and help people on my travels." He created a small red orb in his hand. Looking into it, Tayuya could actually see the lonely house in Uzushio. "Besides, it's one way only."

She kicked his shin just because she could. "And you just up and left Konoha like that? Don't you have to, I don't know, report or something?"

Naruto pouted mockingly at her. "Oh we will have to stop by there again, I am just waiting for the old man to wake up again. Man... he's gonna give me an earful. I promised to return, after all." He pushed into the cafe, the doorbell jiggling merrily after them as they walked in and sat down at a table by the far side of the window. Somehow he kept up looking right into her eyes and Tayuya was in no mood to back down in the gazing contest.

"Old man?" Tayuya asked aloud, wondering if he was some kind of grandfather to Naruto. Were his eyes naturally that deep? Or was that an effect of this Guardian stuff as well?

"The Third Hokage, you know?"

And there Tayuya had to break eye contact. The Third Hokage. Oh, she knew perfectly well. She remembered trapping the man in a barrier he couldn't escape from and then watch him get stabbed and use that freaky seal thing that summoned this... _creature_. Not something you'd forget easily.

She cut her eyes up when he suddenly poked her cheek. "I know you are fine," he said, eyes glinting ever so slightly, "Physically, that is. So what's on your mind?"

Hastily batting his hand away, she nursed the cup that had been brought to them when she had been lost in her musings. She took a sip and grimaced.

Naruto scrutinized her for a few seconds before his expression eased up. He grinned. "Not a fan of coffee, huh?"

"Obviously," she huffed, slamming the cup down on the table.

They ate the weirdly shaped pastries, which looked like strangled snakes much to Tayuya's delight, in silence. It eventually got uncomfortable, at least for her. Naruto seemed perfectly content with... eyeing her.

"What?" she asked eventually.

"You don't have to tell me, you know? Whatever it is. I know exactly what that seal did to you which makes me pretty sure that whatever you did, you were at least reluctant to do." He pointed a finger at her. "And I saw you trying to help whenever you had the chance. And don't try telling me that was pity. People like you don't do pity."

Tayuya scowled and flicked a piece of sugar glaze from her plate at his face. He caught it in his mouth. "Can we go back now?" She was really not the person for deep, emotional conversation, even less so when it concerned herself. How had he even noticed her? It had been like, two times or something! And even then she only did insignificant things, like using a bit of water manipulation to fill a glass or distract a few children with her humming. The kids didn't need to see an ram regrow after all. It was kind of harrowing to watch. She herself had seen a lot of stuff a child shouldn't see. She knew how it messed with your head.

"You are not my prisoner, you know?" he said with a sigh. "Though, if a Konoha shinobi asks, you are. Because I am not sure how Tsunade dealt with that."

She nodded, stood and walked out of the cafe.

A strange one, she was. Naruto couldn't get his head around her. Something had bothered her when he talked about the old man. Maybe he should have asked how much she was involved in all that... Maybe a trip to Konoha wasn't that bad of an idea after all.

XXX

Things around her were far too normal. Nothing like she was used to, not at all. Festivals, Tayuya had only ever observed them when it was for a mission and had most certainly never participated in one. What was this one called? Rain festival? Water-something...? Anyhow, it had definitely something to do with water because that's what it read on most signs that blinked and shone all around her. When had they built all that? Didn't she just stroll past here two hours prior?

"Oi, Miss! Over here!" It had to be the seventh vendor she ignored. They all seemed hell bent on getting her to spend money on their useless games. Not that she had any on her in the first place. Neither did she want to play these games. She wondered where Naruto was. Maybe in one of those stalls, enjoying life. She shook her head. Looking for him was not on her agenda. Better get some sleep, she thought. It was, after all, hard to keep up with a powerhouse like that Uzumaki.

She arrived at the hotel a few minutes later but before she stepped into the lobby, she caught the flutter of Naruto's white cloak pass around a corner. She stopped only for a moment before she followed after him. Tayuya saw him being dragged at the hand by a woman, a voluptuous one at that, through the streets. And if Tayuya knew anything about the change in scenery as she followed him, then this was nothing but the red light district of this village. She avoided a drunk man by weaving though a small crowd and spied Naruto enter a building across the street.

A sign proudly displayed the name " _Valley of Dreams_ " above the deep red entrance.

Her eyebrows rose and her eyes narrowed. He left her to her own devices for a hooker? The nerve of him! She passed by what had to be some kind of security guy but she just snarled at him when he tried to stop her from entering. The air inside the brothel was stale, a mass of perfume and whatever else they spray into the air was trying it's best to drown out the smell of sweat and other bodily fluids Tayuya did not want to think about. The woman at the bar raised an eyebrow at her but smiled politely nonetheless.

"Can I help you, love?" she purred.

"Yeah, actually, you can," Tayuya said, "Where'd you put the redhead in the white cloak?"

The woman blinked, fluttering her long eyelashes at her in apparent confusion. Tayuya tilted her head and frowned as the woman eyed her up and down. "My, are you his sister perhaps?"

Tayuya's lips curled into a snarl but the barwoman was already coming around the counter. "Come along then."

Swallowing the curses, Tayuya ambled after the woman, all the while avoiding the customers that eyed her like a piece of meat. She was led to a staircase that was hidden behind the curtain of the dimly lit stage that was currently displaying two woman, twins actually, dancing half naked around one pole and letting their limbs fly wildly about. People this flexible might as well be ninja, Tayuya thought. The area she had been led to was obviously not for customers of the establishment. There were no widths of red satin, no dim, purple lighting and the women she passed did not look alluring at all. Most of them tired and, if Tayuya was honest with herself, quite sick. She and the barwoman were joined by a two other woman, both of them far from healthy looking with their bloodshot eyes and discolored lips. One even had a nasty cough.

A door was opened to her and what she saw immediately erased the mollifying thoughts she may have had up till now.

Naruto was shirtless, for one, and literally in a sea of naked flesh, not even all of these people were woman, Tayuya noticed. One especially busty woman was pressed against his bare back with her bare front and curiously peered over his shoulder into his lap. He may have had his back to her, but Tayuya had a vivid imagination as to what may be happening in front of him. And she was angry now, that came with the embarrassment of being angry in the first place for reasons that felt beyond her. She wanted to be angry but... why? He was nothing but a traveling companion! Though definitely not her brother!

The barwoman, her hips swaying alluringly, approached Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. Tayuya could see the woman shiver and something told Tayuya that this was not what it seemed like but she did not want to listen. "Darling," the woman purred, "Your sister is here."

Naruto raised his head. He was sweating. Admittedly, it was really hot in that room. Tayuya mused that all the red and deep purple cloth that hung from the ceiling of the room caught a lot of heat.

"Sister?" he asked, confused and Tayuya was quite pleased that he didn't think of her as her sister in the first place.

"Oi, shithead!" Tayuya decided that it was time to speak up.

"Tayuya?" he asked, not able to turn his head, courtesy to the woman that pressed her enormous breasts against the back of his head. Tayuya glanced down at her own chest for the briefest of seconds and scowled.

"Well who the fuck else?" she snapped.

"Why are you here? I thought you wanted to enjoy the festival."

She growled. "So you could enjoy yourself here? That it?" she asked scathingly.

His face wasn't visible but his tone suggested confusion. "What? How would I...?" He squirmed a little and turned around enough to face her. His eyes were golden, she noticed, but they darted to the mound of flesh that was currently pressed against his cheek and the woman it belonged to giggled coquettishly. Naruto's eyes widened and the gold nearly faded from his eyes before he clapped his hands twice in quick succession and his monk staff shot into his hand. Not half a second later, the woman floated backwards with a slightly confused, yet exhilarated expression. Naruto sighed in relief and looked back at her. "I am working," he explained.

Working on a harem, Tayuya thought indignantly. "Are you? In a mountain of naked prostitutes?"

"Now now," the barwoman chided gently, "We do not like that term."

"But you are," Tayuya shot back.

She shrugged. "Maybe, but ninja don't like being called murderers either." She had a point there. "And your brother here is healing my girls and boys from their afflictions."

Tayuya nodded slowly. "But why are they all naked?" Then she pointed an accusing finger at the naked, floating girl that seemed to enjoy herself far too much for Tayuya's liking. "And what the hell was she doing!?"

Aforementioned woman giggled. "Jealous much, my dear?"

Tayuya's mouth clacked shut with a loud snap. After taking a moment to reign her temper in, she growled, "I am _not_ jealous!"

"Oh? Then can I have him?"

Tayuya sneered. "Hell if I care!" she shouted and stormed out of the room, out of the brothel altogether.

The barwoman chuckled. "This, I imagine, is not your sister," she said to Naruto.

When he stood, the Uzumaki shook his head in no, retrieved his cloak and shirt and went after her, but stopped in the doorway. He refused the payment the girls tried to offer. Some even tried to offer themselves and they seemed all too happy about that. Naruto may always be happy to help, but not like this. Not unless it was necessary. Which, up until this point, it hadn't ever been.

"A friend," he answered absently. Where he had been kneeling, a woman lay, sweat still shining upon her brow. "She needs rest. The illness will never return. But if there are any other problems...," he created a small, red ball that fit perfectly in his palm and handed it to the woman, "squash this in your hand and I will be here as fast as I can manage."

She smiled and the alluring facade crumbled a bit, seeing her very own sister surviving her brush with death. "Thank you," she said, "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it. It's what I do."

The woman, who had been up until now floating, softly touched the ground. "My, my, our hero. Feel free to visit us anytime," she purred seductively.

Naruto threw her a smile that disarmed her completely and left her blinking a few times to regain her composure. "I fear I'll have to decline," he said, "My lady friend might not be amused. Then again, she is quite far from any lady I know..." He left the room, muttering to himself with his staff in hand.

"Shame," most of the woman in the room sighed in unison.

* * *

The door to the hotel room barely hung onto its hinges when Naruto carefully pried it open. Tayuya had evidently come by here, Naruto chuckled to himself. And judging by the fist shaped dent in the door frame, she was still more than just pissed that he had left her to her own devices. While it confused Naruto initially (he had thought that she was happy not being watched) he guessed she didn't much like being abandoned like that. After all, she had said that she didn't know much about things outside of an underground base and the few years in a rural village in Iwa before she had found herself in Orochimaru's fangs.

The moment he stepped inside a pillow was chucked at him. It hit his face, followed by a dissatisfied sigh. Obviously Tayuya was not amused that the pillow had not decapitated him.

"Fuck off," she said into the mattress she was laying face down on.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting down besides her. He raised a hand to pat her shoulder but she stopped him cold.

"If you touch my butt I'll hack your arm off," she said flatly.

He scowled. "I didn't try to!"

"You were thinking about it," she returned, scooting away from him. "Perv..."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

It went on like this for quite some time until Tayuya eventually fell asleep mid argument, snoring a "fuck you" ever so often in her sleep. Naruto smiled softly, pulling the blankets up on her and retired for the night. Maybe he should just tale her with him whenever he set out to do his thing.

* * *

They left early next morning, Naruto wanted to pass by Konoha so they were headed north to reach it in a weeks time. Naruto told her of the promise he had made to the Third Hokage when he left Konoha. Tayuya felt an odd flutter in her heart. He had basically foregone all that simply to take care of her. She mentally shook her head, Naruto would do that for everyone for sure.

"Tanzaku Quaters is coming up," Naruto suddenly said. Tayuya never realized she had fallen silent. "From there its about three days to Konoha. Wanna choose the hotel?"

It took a second for Tayuya to realize he had asked her a question. She was startled out of her thoughts, his violet eyes reflecting the shade of her hair oddly against the light and she found herself staring for a second. "Fuck yeah," she said eventually. "And we gonna take the damn best one there is. Better get your wallet ready, miracle boy."

She just loved how he grimaced every time she said that name.

* * *

It took some time but eventually Tayuya decided to reside in the hotel that offered rooms in the Tanazuka castle. For a split second she felt bad about it, they were quite pricey, and decided to only take one room. But when they walked from the reception up to the castle Naruto smirked at her.

"You do realize he gave us a double bed right? I just knew you couldn't resist my charms," he teased.

Why the living hell was he flirting with her!? Again, no less! And while it was far less strange than it had been when she was some sort of prisoner of war, it was still unnerving her that anyone would show just about any interest in her. She was just skin and wry muscle, no tits to speak off. That bastard must be making fun of her.

So she kicked his shin mid walk, nearly tripping him. "Fuck off, miracle boy."

He winced in mock pain and they continued on their way up the castle. They passed through an impressive gateway when Naruto suddenly slowed to a stop underneath the stone arch.

"What?" she asked over her shoulder.

He said something but it was lost in the rumble of stone against stone as a giant snake broke though the other side of the castle walls, crushing most of the building underneath its humongous weight. She jumped back to avoid the debris that was sent flying everywhere as the beast rotated itself to cause even more destruction. The sickly blue scales were marred by black markings and its enormous yellow eyes made Tayuya's blood freeze.

She felt it before he was there, felt her skin prick where the mark had once been. The tiny hairs on her arms and neck stood on edge and her throat suddenly felt far too dry. Tayuya tried to breath, the air stung in her lungs, corroded them with a biting cold that should not be in the autumn air. His hand was on her cheek, the stench of death and blood clung to the charred and broken appendage, rotting flesh and acid filled her nose and she would have vomited if her body wasn't frozen in pace. It felt wet against her skin, foul and rotten, and so icy and cold like the hand of a corpse.

"My, my," his voice hissed from behind her, "My dear Tayuya."

Her name from his lips made her fell sick but she was frozen in absolute horror. She was dead now, he had found her. Orochimaru was going to kill her.

"Missed me?" he asked before everything suddenly went dark and she knew no more.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Guardian**

 **A/N: Here we are...**

 **Guest: Well, you do realize that this is the very center of this story, right? Naruto can't fight but he hast to. That is where my plot comes from.**

 **Silvermane1: Yes, Karin will be included in this story and so will Honoka. You might noticed that I've mentioned her in this chapter.**

* * *

"Naruto Uzumaki."

He tried to keep his expression neutral but couldn't keep his eyes from narrowing. Tayuya was not wounded seriously, at least not yet, but his barrier could keep the blade from her flesh for only so long. The Kusanagi was not a weapon to be stopped by normal means and the amount of concentration it costed Naruto to keep the minuscule barrier in place that was no bigger than the tip of the blade was draining him fast.

Trying to keep his voice from wavering, he said, "You look like shit, Orochimaru of the Sannin." And it was true. His senses told him that his arms were rotting, necrotic as they were, and causing an inordinate amount of pain. "Would you mind letting go of her?"

Orochimaru grinned, a disgusting smile that came across fairly creepy with the sword hanging out of his dislocated jaw. "Naruto Uzumaki," he said again, "A full fledged Guardian."

Now Naruto scowled. How could he know that? No one but the last generation of the Uzumaki should even have an idea of him and what he was. Then again... Orochimaru was known to have a lot of prisoners. But there shouldn't be any of his mother's generation left. Was there a child he had captured?

"Whom had you tortured to get that information?" Naruto asked angrily.

The man laughed, a wet and sick sound, Naruto could almost hear the blood swish in his lungs, and then began to hiss cruelly, pressing harder against the barrier. "She just wanted to keep breathing in the end. Her life seemed to be worth the information." The giant snake hissed loudly behind him as it slithered closer. People were still screaming but Naruto could tell that no one was hurt aside from a light concussion half a mile behind him. "And now, let us hope that _she_ is worth your while, otherwise her time in freedom will have been short."

Naruto's eyes took on a golden gleam. He was bruising Tayuya's sides. These dead arms still exerted a lot of power. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Easy, little Uzumaki," Orochimaru hissed, "You will heal me and I won't kill her right now."

Naruto inhaled sharply. Well shit.

There was a nasty little side effect to being him, to being a Guardian. He could not, under no circumstances or whatever events had taken place prior, refuse to heal. It was a bit more complicated than that, but in essence, he was like fire. And fire couldn't just _not_ burn. If fire didn't burn, it died out. Just like Naruto. If he didn't heal, he would die. Terrible, in some way, and it proved just how lucky he was in his time before he went to Uzushio to never have gone against his nature. Because adding water to fire would not do any good, just like Naruto causing pain instead of mending wounds.

"Let go of her," he said tersely, "Then we can talk about healing."

Orochimaru bowed graciously, hands limply at his side, the motion pushed the unconscious Tayuya forwards and she would have fallen if not for the hard knock of Naruto's staff on the flagstone. She quickly floated over to his side. A wave from his hand and a rush of gold later, Tayuya opened her eyes, groaning loudly.

"Oh my head...," she hissed before looking around wildly, limbs flailing around. "What the-! Let me down!" And Naruto obeyed without a word, keeping his eyes on Orochimaru.

"That was my end of the bargain," Orochimaru crooned, settling down with crossed legs. "Now, I suppose it is _your_ turn, Guardian. _Heal me_."

Begrudgingly, Naruto approached him while Tayuya tried to regain her bearings. "What the hell are you doing?" she shouted in disbelief, "You aren't seriously going to heal him!?"

"It's what I do," Naruto pressed through gritted teeth, glaring hatefully at Orochimaru. He decidedly did not want to heal that sick fucker. He had come across a few of the villages that he had raided for his experiments. Terrible tings had been done to the villagers, things that even he couldn't heal easily. Naruto approached Orochimaru slowly, trying to think of a way out.

Of course he could flat out refuse, but Naruto knew that it would probably knock him out and he'd be sick for at least a week. If he got himself knocked out now, Tayuya was as good as dead, or simply one of the snake's subjects again. Being unconscious meant that there were people he couldn't heal and he couldn't let that happen. But if he healed Orochimaru, he would be back to full strength and kill hundreds, conduct his sick experiments again.

He glanced back at Tayuya, who was glaring death at him but also kept a weary, if not scared, eye on Orochimaru. Maybe he should be scared as well, but in his current state, the snake Sannin couldn't do anything to him. Naruto growled as he got close enough to smell the foul stench that oozed of his rotting arms. Orochimaru wanted to be healed. Was there not anything he could do to change his mind?

Well... maybe...?

"You do know that your body will give all it's secrets to me, right?" Naruto said suddenly. "When I heal you, I will know _everything_ you did to your body. Every, little change and alternation you underwent."

It didn't seem to work, Orochimaru merely smiled this creepy half sneer of his. The refusal was now beginning to bodily cause him pain, he could almost feel how he got paler and his eyes dulled. He grunted when his chakra stung inside his coils, pulling in the direction of Orochimaru's wounds. Up to this day he had only once refused to help someone. It had been a mountain bandit that survived a Team of Konoha ninja clearing their camp. The man was a murderer, a rapist and whatnot so Naruto was not about to save his life. Not willingly, that is.

He refused the urge and the man died in his own blood at Naruto's feet.

Not half an hour later, Naruto very nearly joined him. It was as if he had been poisoned, contradicted several terminal illnesses that ate away at his organs and boiled his insides. He got himself into the river Tsunade fished him from and didn't come into a similar situation again. Until now.

"I am waiting," Orochimaru hissed sweetly, though Naruto knew that it was just thinly veiled anger underneath.

Tayuya was suddenly behind him, grabbing his hand. "You can't fucking heal him!" she shrieked, almost begging him.

He turned to look at her, teeth gritting in pain already and he saw her eyes widen. Apparently, it was very visible already. His veins tended to stand out when he got to pale. "I don't want to," he rasped, "It's not like I have a choice."

She backed away, eyes flickering from him to Orochimaru. "No...," she said quietly, "You can't heal him! I won't fucking let you!"

"Ah ah ah," Orochimaru cooed, causing Tayuya to turn around, "Our little Uzumaki here can't help it and you can't stop it." He sneered at them. "Now come, I am not a patient man and Manda is getting hungry."

She looked confused for a second before scowling again. "You have to be fucking _kidding!_ You _can't_ heal him!"

"As I _said_ ," Naruto hissed, "I don't want to, but I have to! If I don't heal him, I'll be down for the count, Tayuya!"

But she didn't seem to listen to him. Tayuya threw herself against him, trying to push him back or at least stop him from moving but he was far stronger than her so it had no effect at all. "I can't let you-! Stop you dumb fuck!"

He pushed her aside as gently as possible. "If I fall sick, he'll kill you," he pleaded, "He'll kill anyone around us! And I can't stop him!"

He could see her hesitate but there was no time, the pain was becoming unbearable and the edges of his vision began to blur. And just as he was about to simply heal the man from a distance, simply to ease the pain, something appeared in range of his senses.

An intoxicated man.

But not just any man, no, it was a man he had met before. And just as Orochimaru was about to say something again, said man plummeted down onto the snake summoner with an outcry of **"Rasengan!"**

It was all over in under three seconds but Naruto could feel exactly what happened. Orochimaru's skull, and subsequently his brain, was ground away by a mass of spiraling chakra. The body died instantly. Then something very curious happened. Form within the mangled corpse that was still under assault, a new life bloomed that showed the same condition Orochimaru had been in before. The other body tore in far too many paces for Naruto to even list before a completely new one, albeit slightly different one emerged from the carcass and sunk into the ground.

Naruto would have been able to track the injured fool if not for the fact that his coils felt ready to burst. He fell to his knees and heaved, barely aware of Jiraiya, who knelt down at his side. He couldn't hear what the man said, the only thoughts his head allowed was the stilling of the hunger, the need to heal, the urge to men. Naruto tackled Jiraiya to the ground and slammed his hand flat atop the man's abdomen where his liver was located. The Sannin grunted, now sufficiently sobered, and stared at Naruto as if he had suddenly grown a second head.

The pain lessened, but not enough.

"What the fuck, lover boy!"

Tayuya. She was right there, second and third rib bruised on both sides, sternum fractured. He was on top of her before she could even yelp. The pain had dimmed but the urge was still there, commanding his body better than he ever could. There where a few damaged capillaries in her left lung, a tiny hemorrhage on her lower back-

His mind almost short circuited and he leaned forwards, closing her lips off with his. Her every wound and pain healed in under a second as his chakra directly entered her body. The urge vanished, Orochimaru had fled beyond his sense's reach, and he pulled back, bleary eyed and only half aware of what he was even doing.

"You-! Goddammit, fucking-! Get off me!" And with that, Tayuya kicked him off her person, hard enough to send him fly, but Jiraiya was there to catch his exhausted body.

"Whoa there, way to go!" the man cheered, then suddenly his voice turned stern, "But I do not consent forcing yourself on others."

Naruto took a deep breath. "I didn't-," he began but Tayuya beat him to it.

"The idiot healed me," she grumbled and kicked his shin. "Apparently he gets off doing it this way. Fucking perv..."

He was still wheezing. "Admit... that you... liked it!" he chocked out, trying to grin cheekily at her. He failed, apparently, because she flicked his forehead hard enough to crack a normal man's skull.

"I did not!" she sniffed indignantly. "And what the fuck was that anyways!"

"Girly," Jiraiya said, setting him down, "You of all people should know that that was Orochimaru."

"Not what I meant you old fart!" she seethed at the older man.

They began bickering and Naruto used the time to get his breathing under control. God damn... that was so fucking close! He had almost nursed the worlds worst criminal back to health! And given the urgency of it, he would have probably done it with a _kiss_ of all things, because he held himself back! Oh, lords above, he either the best or worst luck there was, he couldn't decide.

* * *

He had explained to her how his chakra worked and even though Tayuya still called it bullshit, she was beginning to understand. She was just glad that Orochi-Fucker was still a damn cripple. Serves him right! After the incident, she had fully intended to continue their journey, but Jiraiya seemed to be sticking to them.

Oh she loathed the old goat! A fucking pervert at that!

"On a mission," he said to Naruto, "You know how it is."

"I don't," Naruto pointed out with a sigh. "Now, why are you still pestering us?"

"Pestering!?" the pervert exclaimed in affront, she was rolling her eyes so much right now... All because of that fool! "I am gracing you with my presence!"

She snorted loudly but was ignored.

Naruto sighed and suddenly took a sharp left, pushing her with him and effectively leaving the Toad man behind in the mass of people that were streaming back to the castle to see what was going on.

"Oi! Brats! Where the hell are you-? I have a mission and-!" His shouts were lost in the noise of the crowd.

He was still leading her, one arm firmly linked with hers, so she shrugged him off. He pouted but said nothing. Fucking flirting with her! Fucking hell! What was wrong with him!?

"So," he said eventually as they neared the gates, "Back on track to Konoha."

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Very enthusiastic," he lamented, "Come one, be a bit happier. They'll reward you for your services!"

"Kill me on the spot, more likely," she grumbled, elbowing him as he came closer.

He laughed it off. "Ah, but I won't let them!" he chirped, "You're mine now, so they can't have you!"

She stopped short to glare at him. "I am _not_ yours!" she hissed though clenched teeth. "I don't belong to _anyone,_ miracle boy! You'd better remember that!"

His expression sobered a bit. "I know," he said before suddenly grinning again. "But you'll fall for me yet!"

Her left eye twitched violently and she reached for a kunai. "Oh you wish...! Now come here so I can castrate you!"

Naruto left the village, chuckling bemusedly, with Tayuya hot on his heels. She'd get him. Eventually. Once he stopped being almost invincible.

* * *

Jiraiya caught up to them eventually and, about ten minuets later, Tayuya decided to murder him some day. Slowly. Brutally-

"Do I have to tell you about protection?" the man said to Naruto, "Because children come along faster than you'd think. Uzumaki are very fertile and-"

 _Definitely_. She would definitely kill him. Fucking pervert... "What the hell do you even want?" she snapped at him.

His grin was devious. "I am merely ensuring that he knows what he's doing!" He reached into his robes and pulled out an orange book. "Here!" he said, giving it to Naruto, "Read it and you'll know how to please a lady!"

"He won't fucking take it!" Tayuya snarled at him. What he fuck! Damn white haired perv!

Indeed, Naruto declined. "Don't need it," he said. Then he turned to Tayuya and _fucking_ winked. "Already read it."

Okay, she was definitely killing the redhead as well. She was also definitely not blushing. Shit, he was grinning at her!

"As proud as I am," Jiraiya suddenly exclaimed before she could even try and maim Naruto with her words, "We have business to talk about."

"What business?" Naruto inquired.

"There is an organization you should know about," the Sannin said seriously, so serious in fact, that Tayuya could have mistaken him for a normal human being, "And organisation that hunts down those who are like you."

Naruto looked at him, puzzled. "What? Like me?" he asked, "There is no one like me. No other Guardian- Ooooh!"

"Yes, oh," Jiraiya said dryly.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Tayuya huffed. "What others?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Doesn't matter, you will come with me anyways."

"Who said I'm going anywhere!?" she retorted. Even Naruto looked curiously up at him.

"Because where he goes, you go," he stated simply.

She fumed at him. "Well fuck you! Going where!?"

The Sannin grinned. "A training trip!"

And once more, Konoha was left to it's own devices. Tsunade would handle things, no problem!

Probably.

Tayuya feared that she would crack her skull open and wondered if she could get through Naruto's as well...


	7. Chapter 7

**The Guardian**

 **A/N: Guest: No. No harem. Not ever. Though Karin may crush on Naruto. I'm not sure yet. If you have any love interest in mind for her aside from Naruto, do tell.**

* * *

Konoha was still vastly in ruins when they returned. The gate was a patchwork of makeshift repairs and probably couldn't keep out a toddler if said child had enough determination to get in. Guilt rooted itself in his gut. What if he had been there? He had been asked to come but he declined. He could have helped so many people... The old man almost died and so many others did die. He kept his eyes downcast as they walked though the gate.

Izumo and Kotetsu weren't there.

Naruto grit his teeth and moved on. He shouldn't dwell on the past, not on those lost, for no matter how powerful he was, the dead he could never return. Tayuya elbowed him as she walked at his side, probably closer than necessary, but she was probably nervous. He flashed her a grin and softly elbowed her back, though she probably caught how empty his smile was. He supposed she would have said something if not for the five ANBU that were following them. It unsettled her, he knew.

"Don't worry," he told her, "They won't take you. Not as long as I am with you."

She nodded. "Then you better stay close, miracle boy."

He grinned. "I knew you'd like the idea."

Tayuya blinked twice at him before frowning. "Fuck you."

"Stop flirting already," Jiraiya interrupted, just as Naruto was about to respond with _"You may."_

"We aren't!" Tayuya growled, "He's just a fucking perv! And so are you! Perverts everywhere!" she shouted, throwing up her hands.

The villagers, and most men among them, appeared offended. Naruto bit back a laugh and kept walking. They passed heavily damaged houses and even a few that had already been rebuild. Most of the rubble had been cleared away and numerous workers labored away to restore the village. As they walked by a house that was little more than four crumbling walls with no roof to speak of Naruto suddenly stopped. His eyes shone brightly and without a word he made a beeline for the ruined three story building. Tayuya stilled for a second before she followed him, leaving Jiraiya to walk by himself as he rambled on about his research, not even noticing that they had left.

The first thing Tayuya heard when she stepped past the door that barely hung onto it's hinges was the pained moaning and a frantic whisper coming from upstairs. Naruto was already halfway up the staircase, his cloak billowing behind him, accompanied by his staff's rhythmic clink of metal against metal. "Open up," he said to the door up top, probably the apartment of the second floor. "I'm a healer. I can help her."

Tayuya wondered how he could tell these things so accurately. Did he just receive the knowledge? Did he just feel it? She supposed it was an instinct of sorts, given his unique condition and abilities. She stood right behind him, peering over his shoulder, when a haggard looking man opened the door just enough to peer out at them.#

"W-Who are you!?" he demanded fearfully, dull reddened eyes seizing Naruto up. He seemed to have overlooked her.

"I can help your wife," Naruto repeated calmly. "She is giving birth and is very weak. Let me help her."

The door opened immediately. "You can!?" the man gasped, grabbing onto Naruto's cloak.

The Uzumaki nodded. "Yes. Lead me to her and she will be just fine."

"Oh she's been moaning and crying for hours now!" the man began to rant as he turned on his heel and dragged Naruto inside by his cloak. "She- She's not due yet! We- I- It shouldn't come yet! The hospital-! I couldn't leave her and- Oh gods! What if the water wasn't warm enough?! Do I need more towels!? Where is my mother-in-law when I _actually_ need her!"

His ranting and babbling was interrupted by a particularly shrill outcry from his wife a few doors ahead. Naruto brusquely pushed the man aside and locked eyes with Tayuya. "Get him out of here. He is no help." He strode into the room without looking back.

Tayuya glared after him, but found herself obeying. The husband was weeping, or maybe he was actually saying something, but she couldn't understand a word over his sobs so she dragged him back to the front door of the apartment and opened it to come face to face with Jiraiya.

"There you are!" he sighed, "What are you-?"

Tayuya ignored him and shoved the distressed man into the Sannin. "Hold onto that," she ordered and slammed the door shut again.

She hurried back into the room Naruto had vanished into. He was sitting at the bedside of the disheveled and sweaty woman. Her black hair were pulled back into an absolutely messy bun, her lower body and legs propped up on some pillows and a small pile of towels lay in between her spread legs. Tayuya had seen a woman giving birth about five times before that. The sight still made her dizzy.

The woman whimpered quietly as another contraction hit her. "Is- Is my baby going to be alright!?" she asked of Naruto, one of her hands holding the Uzumaki's in a vice like grip.

"Everything will be alright," Naruto assured her. He was sitting there, again radiating his warmth throughout the entire room and Tayuya had to fight down a shiver of content as his chakra seeped though her. "You child is a bit early but that is no problem." Naruto placed a hand on her stomach, his hand glowed softly before the woman's hole stomach was _illuminated_ like a light bulb. A disturbing sight, Tayuya thought, but it was pretty effective to see the baby, whose head was good on his way out. However, it's umbilical cord looked... _odd_ to Tayuya. It didn't seem to merely connect to the navel, looked as it it were wrapped awkwardly around the baby.

If that was a problem, Naruto didn't show it. "If you feel the next contraction, I want you to push as hard as you can, okay?" he asked the mother, who nodded erratically. "It will be alright," he assured her again.

Tayuya, not really knowing what else to do, decided to help. She didn't like feeling useless. She brought the bowl of warm water to the foot of the bed and properly spread and prepared the towels. Once of them she used to wipe the sweat of the woman's forehead. She smiled a pained but grateful smile at the redhead. "T-Thank you," she raped hoarsely. She grunted loudly and squeezed her eyes shut. For several seconds a grimace of absolute concentration and pain seemed to be etched into her face, before she let herself fall back into the pillow, breathing heavily.

"You are doing good," Naruto assured, "What's your name?" he asked of her, his hand gently drawing circles on the woman's stomach and Tayuya could see the umbilical cord slowly move.

"M-Masaki," she gasped before grunting again, opening her mouth in a muted outcry of pain. She fell back once more, breathing heavily. Tears shone in her eyes as she peered at the ceiling with unrivaled focus. "A-And you...?" she asked hoarsely.

"I am Naruto," he introduced himself, "And that beautiful lady at your other side is Tayuya."

Tayuya glared at him in response. This was definitely not the right moment fucking flirt with her! She wiped a stray tear from Masaki's face.

"Oh," the woman breathed, her eyes flickered from her to Naruto, "Do... Do you two have a-any children?"

While Naruto laughed lightly at the question, it took Tayuya a few seconds to even grasp what she had been asked. "What? I mean, No!" she answered eventually. Gods, what was wrong with all these people? She blamed it on the fucking flirt of a healer.

"Not yet," Naruto threw in, leaning forwards as his hand ceased it's circling. Tayuya was unable to respond scathingly when he called out, "I can see the head. You are almost there, Masaki, keep going!"

Masaki made a noise that was a mixture of a pained grunt and an excited laugh and nodded a few times before she suddenly almost rose out of the bed with along, pained half-scream. Since Naruto had moved to properly deliver the baby, Tayuya's hand was captured in a vice grip before she could pull it away.

So it came to pass that Tayuya's hand broke in three places before the baby was finally drawing it's first breaths and crying loudly. It had taken thirty more minuets for the babe to be born and once Masaki fell back into the pillows once more, Tayuya whipped her hand away from the woman. Gods dammit, that hurt!

"Congratulations," Naruto said quietly as he rose form his kneeling position, "It's a healthy baby girl."

The crying of the baby must have alerted the husband, who choose this moment to break down the rooms door. "Masaki!" she all but shouted as he rushed to his wife's side, just as Naruto handed her the baby, wrapped securely in a towel.

Wait. How did he serve the umbilical cord?

Deciding that her broken hand needed more immediate attention, she put that particular question on hold. As he healed her hand with a few gentle touches (and the occasional wink, which she steadfastly ignored), she wondered if there were others who he had healed so frequently. Because his chakra felt better and better every time it flowed though her... It was... _disconcerting_ and _wonderful_ at the same time.

"Thank you!" The man, whose name was apparently Kusaki (Tayuya was not sure if she should laugh or cry. Kusaki and Masaki. Weed and some-kind-of-tree Tayuya didn't remember. Ugh!), was thanking Naruto on his knees rather tearfully.

Naruto pulled him to his feet in one swift motion. How Tayuya still noticed the Uzumaki's muscles ripple was beyond her. dammit, what was wrong with her!? Was she blushing? Nah, never!

"Don't," he told the father, "Be there for your child." He pulled a scroll from somewhere within his cloak, even though Tayuya was pretty sure that there were no pouches or pockets in it, and unsealed a blue metal box from it. "You daughter was born a bit early, so she will need a bit of support. In here you will find everything you need for now, I still recommend to see a medic at the hospital."

They left before Kusaki could spread his snot any more over Naruto's clothes and were met by a rather disgruntled Jiraiya. Obviously he had not appreciated being left alone with a man as out of it as Kusaki. Though Tayuya thought she spied a hint of pried in his eyes when his eyes fell upon Naruto.

"Any more detours planned?" he asked in what was probably sarcasm.

Naruto shrugged. "Not yet." He grinned as he shot her a look. "Though I could be convinced to cuddle and-"

"No," Tayuya deadpanned, kicking his right calf so he almost stumbled. "Not in a million years."

He pouted at her before the rather smug smile returned. "Good thing I have a lot of time then." She just rolled her eyes.

Jiraiya coughed to get their attention. "Yeah, about that. I don't think you will have that much time in the near future."

Tayuya loved the way Naruto's face fell like someone had just kicked his puppy. That was until she remembered that she would probably be dragged along.

* * *

"Old man!"

The Third Hokage sat up abrupt in his bed. He was still rather tired and had only recently woken from his coma, just yesterday in fact, so he was just the tiniest bit jumpy. He was much surprised to see his quasi-grandson waltz into the room. My, how he had grown! Those three years had formed the boy into a man that carried himself with pride yet appeared humble. His eyes were a mixture of amethyst and golden flecks and he had cut his blood red hair down to only and inch or two, which left them free to stand off in all directions.

"Naruto, my boy," the elder man greeted, his voice still to brittle to his own ears, "You have grown."

The Uzumaki laughed sheepishly. "I guess," he said, scratching his chin.

"And have you found what you have been looking for?" the Third asked. The man had not turned a blind eye to the stories the people told, he had heard of the wanderer, the healer that traversed the Elemental Nations, a miracle worker that could heal everything short of death itself.

Naruto's smile was somber but honest. "I did. Uzushio may be gone but I found all I needed there."

The old man nodded, smiling. "So you have found your true nature then. Have you decided what you would do now?"

"Uhm... Didn't you tell me to return so I could be Clan Head?" Naruto asked.

The old Hokage laughed. "Right, I did ask that of you. But it doesn't matter. If you want to stay in the village, feel free to. Otherwise, I heard you already found your calling." He chuckled. "A wanderer, or so I heard."

"A fucking miracle boy, that's what he is." Tayuya choose that moment to waltz into the room as well, holding Naruto's staff in hands. It clinked loudly as she held it out to him. "You left that thing lying around again. I swear, I won't clean that shit if someone accidentally touches it."

Naruto blinked a few times before he laughed and took the offered item from her. "Why thank you," he told her with a mock bow. She rolled her eyes. He looked back at the Hokage and smiled. "Tayuya, meet the third Hokage. Old man, meet Tayuya."

Hiruzen raised both eyebrows. "Well, I do believe we have met before," he said slowly.

Tayuya appeared uncomfortable under his gaze and moved closer to Naruto, who waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, you mean you saw her before. Now you meet her. That's a difference."

"I guess it is," the old Hokage admitted, a hint of suspicion still evident in his voice. "How did you come to meet her?" he asked.

Tayuya snorted. "He kissed me, the damn asshole."

As Hiruzen shot Naruto a dubious look, Naruto rolled his eyes. "I think I told you not to move. Well, I implored. Mentally," he amended as she glared at him. "Still, I had to do it."

"You just keep telling yourself that, pervert," Tayuya huffed, crossing both arms in front of her chest.

The Hokage coughed to regain heir attention. "Anyhow, I have been told you kept me alive. And, let me be frank, that should be impossible."

"A lot of stuff should be impossible," Naruto said nonchalantly, "But the damn shinigami can only interact with dead people or those foolish enough to use his sealing method." He shrugged. "I just kept the seal from killing you while undoing the connection to him. Damn, he is probably super mad at me..."

"You bet he is!" Tayuya huffed, "if you keep fucking with his business, you'll be dead before I can fucking kill you myself, you damn pervert!"

"You wouldn't kill me!" Naruto protested," You love me too much!"

"I don't fucking love you, goddamn asshole!"

"You do!"

"I don't!"

"I say you do!"

"And _I_ say fuck you, miracle boy!"

The old Hokage was rather confused by their interactions. Who was she supposed to be again?

* * *

Naruto had barely relayed half of his travels and his time in Uzushio to the old, bedridden Hokage when an ANBU appeared in the room.

"Lady Tsunade wishes- I mean, demands to see you," the purple haired woman said, apparently uncomfortable with the choice of words.

The Uzumaki, interrupted mid-gesticulating of how he had once reattached the left testicle of some poor sod, almost pouted at the ANBU. Tayuya, who had been reclining in a chair, all the while glaring at Naruto whenever he winked at her, snorted in amusement. She did keep an eye on the ANBU, though, not sure if she would try something.

"You're in for it now, miracle boy," she crowed, jumping up and slugging him in the shoulder.

He didn't even flinch. God damn resilient body of his!

Naruto shrugged, grabbing both his coat and is staff from Hiruzen's bed. "We'll see. I'll come by later, old man. You just gotta hear about the woman that managed to get a splinter into her privates! It got infected and-!"

Tayuya shoved him towards the door, past the ANBU whose eyes were wide behind her mask. "Stop talking so much shit, miracle boy!" she hissed.

"Don't say that," Naruto mock whined, "I know you love hearing me talk."

"I fucking don't!"

Once they had vacated the room, the ANBU took off her mask. "Lord Hokage," she began uncertainly, "Who in all Kage's names was that?"

Hiruzen laughed tiredly. "I am not entirely sure, but I am assuming that she is Naruto's... friend, I suppose you could call her that."

Yugao nodded. "Anyhow, I have also come bearing a message for you."

The man nodded. "Do tell."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Yugao said with a short bow, "It seems that Uchiha Sasuke has been seen in the Lands of Wind. He wore the distinctive garb of Orochimaru's subordinates."

Hiruzen sighed. "So he has truly run to him."

"That is not all," Yugao continued. "Itachi has supposedly been seen in the village some days ago. And he... left a message."

"A message?" he inquired. Was it for him? That was not the usual way they communicated. "For who?"

"It is for Naruto, Lord Hokage."

* * *

The first thing Naruto got once he opened the door to Tsunade's office was a full powered right straight to his face. AS a matter of fact, he had been prepared for it, so a transparent red barrier blocked the punch entirely. The walls and the door frame where not so lucky and where blown down the staircase, along with the secretary's desk and an unsuspecting chunin guard.

"it's good to see you too, granny," Naruto greeted laughingly.

Tayuya peeked over Naruto's shoulder to asses the situation. Apparently, the blow had not been meant for her, if Tsunade's death glare aimed at Naruto was any indication.

"You left!" she hollered, swinging a bright red scroll at him, "And all I get is a list of locations with no explanation whatsoever!"

She threw the scroll at him and he leaned to the side. It hit Tayuya square in the face. "Dammit!" she hissed, rubbing at her bruised nose. How could someone chuck a scroll that hard!?

"And you!" Tsunade began, rounding on her, "You and I will have a long nice talk about the _specifics_ of these locations! Is that understood?"

Tayuya had never been one for obedience or authority, but even she knew when her neck was in danger of breaking in every place possible. "Ah... yes, of course," she pressed out. She didn't bow though. _Hah_! Fuck her! Damn huge titted grandma...

Tsunade kept scowling at her so she moved to stand behind Naruto, where she couldn't keep glaring at her. Good thing he was so tall. Not to mention ripped... Nos it was Tayuya's turn to scowl. God damn Uzumaki! Messing with her head!

With a sight, the Fifth Hokage let herself fall back into her chair. "Now that that's over, I heard you met Orochimaru."

Naruto scowled as he walked closer to Tsunade's desk. "Oh we did. The bastard knew of me. He tried to get me to heal him."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Did you?" she asked.

Before Naruto could answer, Tayuya snorted loudly from besides him. "No, the fucker decided he needed to fucking kiss me instead."

The Hokage gave both of them a look of disbelief. "Right... I assume that means he's still unable to use his arms?"

Naruto nodded. "Yup, and if he doesn't do something about them fast, the rest of his body will rot away as well."

"That won't matter," Tayuya said, scowling at Naruto, "He's just gonna switch bodies. He don't need no handseals for that."

The Hokage reclined in her chair, idly pushing an empty cup of sake back and froth on the desk. "I see... So he still remains a threat." She looked up and met Naruto's eyes. "He knows about you? That you are a Guardian?"

Naruto nodded, scowling fiercely at the cup. "Yeah. He knew. Tortured someone to get the information."

"An Uzumaki?" Tsunade asked.

He nodded again. "Yes. He told me apparently was worth her life to give up the information. He knew I couldn't refuse healing, whoever that girl is, she knows a lot." His violet eyes met Tsunade's brown ones with fierce determination. "I want to rescue her. If there are other Uzumaki, I want to find them."

Tsunade nodded in understanding. "You want me to send you on a mission?"

Naruto grinned. "I'm not one of your ninja, granny."

She tossed a headband at him, the silver metal plate attached to carmine red cloth gleamed in the sunlight as Naruto caught it. "You are now. Find the girl and find out as much about Orochimaru as you can."

Naruto stared at the headband. "That's..." There was not the Konoha symbol on it. Instead, proudly displayed on the plate, was the Uzumaki emblem. "Can you even do that?"

She shrugged. "It's my way of asking if the Uzumaki Clan wants to help the village."As Naruto nodded mutely, Tsunade looked at Tayuya. "You want one too?"

"What?" Tayuya stared at her. "Are you kidding? A month ago I almost killed your Hokage! The old one, I mean!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got that. So, you want one too?" She held the headband out to her. "You know, you will take it anyways!" She chucked it at Tayuya, who caught it just before it could hit her square in the face. "I already had it made anyways."

"So you make me on of your shinobi?" Tayuya asked, "Just like that?"

"Technically, you are one of Naruto's shinobi, wearing that headband, but as long as he answers to me, so will you," the Hokage explained. "Now, that's that. Time you and I have an interview."

Tayuya gulped. Hopefully she wasn't like Orochimaru in her interviews... And, _hey_! Had she just been made miracle boy's _subordinate_!?


	8. Chapter 8

**The Guardian**

 **A/N: Uzumaki spiral: So, eh, there's a lot of your reviews in one go so... thanks for that. Secondly, I know that it doesn't make sense. Just like the Sharingan summoning a fucking shroud of chakra, skeletal warrior thing. or how the Sage of the Six Paths randomly appears and super powers Naruto and Sasuke. And yet, here we are. If my concept makes sense or not is not really important as long as i stick to it.**

 **Now, just because some people still ask me this, this (and every other story I am writing)is not a harem fic. Not now, not ever. Unless I state otherwise there is just one guy and one girl. Or one girl and one girl. Or... one guy with one guy. You know what I mean. Monogamy and all that.**

 **This chapter turned out longer than I thought because there are just so many needless interactions in it... Well, plot advances anyways.**

* * *

Tayuya had been interrogated before, though Orochimaru tended to call it mission debrief. In the end, both involved a lot of torture of which she bore the scars. Well, no longer, she reminded herself. Naruto had taken every scar off her skin and left naught a blemish. This interrogation felt like it could be actually worse than all the others before. The room was fairly standard with the one-way mirror, the solitary table and the two chairs, one of which she was sitting in. Tayuya wasn't sure if the fact that she wasn't chained to it was a good sign yet or just Konoha's way of luring her in.

The door opened and not some no name interrogator entered, but Tsunade herself. Great, another Sannin to squeeze information out of her. Tayuya felt that Naruto should be here. She actually wanted him to be here, more for the sake of it than to keep her skull from being squashed. His flirting aside, he served to make her feel better about the general cluster fuck that her life was.

Tsunade noisily slumped down in the chair opposite from her and put the scroll that she had thrown in Tayuya's face not half an hour before on the table. She sighed. "Okay, let's get this over with."

As Tsunade unfurled the scroll and laid it out in front of her, Tayuya wondered what would happen if she'd refuse to answer. Would she hurt her? And what would Naruto do then? Tayuya wasn't about to test it out. "So?" she asked shortly, "What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you're willing to share," Tsunade said simply. "All the locations in this scroll were previously in known to us, so they all are of value."

"Yeah yeah," Tayuya groused, "But how much do you want so you don't fucking put me in prison?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Girly, you're way too mistrusting, though I blame Orochimaru for that. That aside, even if we tried to put you in prison, Naruto would just walk you straight out of it again."

She laughed. "He would, wouldn't he? God damn miracle boy."

The Hokage joined in her laughter for a moment before her face was suddenly all serious again. "He would, yes. Now the question is... Why?"

Tayuya sobered immediately. "Well, fuck if I know. Besides, how is that important right now?"

"It's important because I say so," Tsunade countered forcefully. "So you better answer my question."

Great. Questions about Orochimaru she could deal with. Questions about herself were not a problem. Maybe even questions about the stupid cloaked flirt but their... _relationship_ , if one could call it that, Tayuya didn't want to think about. Truth be told, she had no idea why he hadn't just dropped her already. It wasn't like she did a lot to make sure he'd drag her along.

With a sigh she leaned back in her uncomfortable chair. "Listen," she began, "I have no idea why he's taking me along. He just asked me if I had anywhere to go or anything to do and I said no. Heck, I still have nowhere to go! I thought I was less likely to be murdered by Orochimaru or his fucking goons if I traveled with him until I found... uh,... something." Though she had no idea what this something was. A place to live? The idea of settling down was stupid and even she didn't have any illusions about her social ability.

Tsunade snorted. "So you just followed my grandson like a lost puppy?"

What? The Hokage was his grandmother? That was hella weird and, uh... shouldn't she have red hair as well? She bit down a snarky remark about how she was definitely not a fucking puppy but given her situation she thought better of it. "No!" she bit out forcefully, "I didn't just freeload off him!" She wasn't that kind of person. It didn't sit well with her to be in debt. And her debt to Naruto was enormous. "I helped when I could, for fucks sake!"

That seemed to interest the Hokage greatly and the weight of her gaze made Tayuya uncomfortable. Not that she showed it, of course. Eventually, Tsunade leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead with both hands. "Both of you are giving me an headache," she complained. "So... when do I have to expect grandchildren?"

Tayuya clicked her tongue once, wet her lips and leaned forward onto the table, looking Tsunade square in the eyes. "Fuck. You."

* * *

Hiruzen sighed deeply once more. He had been allowed to leave the hospital for the occasion and had made his way over to the office, which Tsunade had vacated in favor of interrogating what she called a bratty redhead. An ANBU had been sent to fetch Naruto and while he waited, the old Hokage couldn't help but read Itachi's message again and again.

The warning was clear. Akatsuki would make it's move very soon and Itachi didn't have much time left. Naruto's unique condition caused problems, merely defending himself wouldn't cut it. If he couldn't fight back, a group of S-Class rouge ninja could easily wear him down. Judging from Tsunade's report on him, Naruto was physically unable to cause harm lest it would save a life in the process. How that was even a thing, Hiruzen had no idea, but he knew that chakra could have a more pronounced nature under certain circumstances. Orochimaru's, for example, was pretty vile and dark. The old Hokage suspected that this applied to Naruto as well, just on a far greater scale and going so far as to acquire specified circumstances to be used under.

Or maybe it was just an Uzumaki thing.

There was a knock at the door and before he could respond Naruto was already striding inside, his staff clinking with every step. He offered a warm smile and Naruto responded in kind.

"Good thing the nurses let you out," he said, causing Naruto to grin sheepishly.

"Well," he began, "You know... They are rather specific about their work. And maybe I am taking a lot of their shoulders."

Hiruzen laughed deeply before coughing lightly. Ugh, maybe smoking for thirty years hadn't been that good of an idea. "Just make sure they don't slack, my boy."

Naruto didn't answer. With a light shake of the head he went around the desk. Placing a hand on his back, Naruto pushed lightly against it. The effect was instantaneous and Hiruzen was forced to cough harshly a few times. A black substance was expelled from his mouth, leaving his lungs feeling raw and weak. That was until Naruto patched them up immediately.

"That," the Uzumaki said, pointing at the black glob on the desk, "is tar. It accumulates in your lungs when you smoke as much as you do." He took a seat in front of him. "I better don't see you smoke again. Your lungs are as good as they get in your age now, so don't mess them up again."

The old Hokage took a few deep breaths and noted how easy it was, how light it felt. "I... will see to it."

"So," Naruto said, leaning froward in his chair, "What did you call me here for?"

"I'm sure Jiraiya already told you about them. About those who hunt the jinchuriki." When Naruto nodded once, he continued. "We have a spy among them. Itachi Uchiha."

"For real?" Naruto asked, eyes wide. "I mean... he slaughtered his clan, right?"

"It is more complicated than that," Hiruzen sighed, "But he is on our side. He sent us a message. The Akatsuki will move soon and he's running out of time. You will need to fight, even though you can't."

Naruto frowned. "How would I do that? Let them exhaust themselves against my barriers and hope someone else survived to finish them?"

He shook his head. "No, we both know that won't work. Your chakra doesn't allow it. But... that isn't exactly the only chakra you can access."

Naruto exhaled slowly. "You... mean the fox, right? I am supposed to use that chakra? To fight those who want it?"

The old Hokage felt the urge to take a deep drag from his pipe. "Ironic, isn't it? But there isn't exactly much else of an option. If your chakra is otherwise uncooperative to fight them, you can't use it."

"But... I don't know how to access it," Naruto said, frowning at the engravings in his staff. "I mean, I know how, I just couldn't possibly control it."

"Then you will learn," the old Hokage concluded. "I can't let you face them without a way to fend for yourself. Jiraiya can help you, he dealt with the fox before."

Naruto sighed. "Oh man... that will totally cut into my saving people schedule."

The Hokage chuckled. "I suppose it will. But even you can't heal someone if you are dead."

"Got that right," Naruto grumbled, "But first, I'll free that girl from the sake's grasp and everyone else I can find."

"That is your decision," Hiruzen said with a nod, "But there is something else I need you to do..."

* * *

Naruto took the remaining time Tayuya's interrogation gave him to do a round in the village for anyone that needed his help. Most things he felt were manageable and didn't require his involvement but when he passed by the hospital he sensed something curious. A heart, a damaged one, with its chakra pathways severely ruptured. Felt like a Hyuuga used her as a punching bag. The general feel of the girl wasn't familiar to Naruto but her chakra was very calm, almost reserved in it's nature, and she had an overall gentle vibe to herself. That sounded all very familiar so Naruto decided to go and see if he could help. Healing a heart like that was pretty hard, even Tsunade would have to be careful.

To him it was, of course, as easy as breathing.

As he entered the building, the nurses waved at him, some even giggled rather coquettishly, and most doctors looked at him either grateful or envious. Well, he made their job look terribly easy after all. But it wasn't, not even for him. Sure, he was a walking miracle, could perform feats any medic, doctor or healer could never even hope to perform, but it didn't come as naturally as he made it seem. He had to learn it first, too. That had been the reason he sought out Tsunade back then, to learn everything there was to learn about the human body. She taught him everything and with every bit of knowledge the reach of his ability grew. Once he understood how he could heal something, he could heal it.

Unlike the Mystic Palm technique, which was the most common healing jutsu out there, Naruto had to know exactly what was required to mend a cut or set a broke bone. The Mystic Palm simply accelerated the natural regeneration if used without much prior knowledge. The more the user knew, the better it worked but even then the Technique worked mostly by itself.

Naruto, however, had to direct every tiny bit of his chakra, control every cell correctly and trigger the required physiological functions of the body to even attempt to heal someone and achieve the same result as Tsunade would with merely spamming the Mystic Palm.

Haku bore a scar for a reason. Naruto didn't really know what he had been doing back then, sheer desperation guided his hands and Haku had been extremely lucky that the internal damage had been almost non-existent. Otherwise he might still have bleed to death.

Turning a corner, Naruto almost collided with Shizune, who shrieked in surprise and dropped a stack of papers. "Oh I'm- Naruto!" she exclaimed once she recognized him. "You are back! How are you?"

Naruto smiled at her. She had grown to be something of a sister to him over the years. "Shizune," he greeted warmly. "How are you?" He bent down just as she did to help her gather the papers that lay strewn in the hallway.

"Oh, busy and even more busy," she laughed. "You know how it is. And... you cut your hair!"

He scratched his head as he handed her a stack. "Well... yeah." She had been nagging him about a haircut for months before they returned to Konoha.

"Who convinced you?" she inquired, rising from her crouch once she made sure her stack of papers was in order.

That, Naruto remembered, had been Tayuya. She had, on the first few days, more or less complained about how stupid his pony tail was. Naruto wasn't sure why, but it had annoyed the daylight out of him so he had let himself be repaid with a haircut for curing a woman's black lung. Tayuya hadn't said a word about it but he just knew she raised her chin smugly whenever he didn't glance back at her.

"Ah.. no one," he answered lamely after his a almost half a minute long pause.

Shizune smiled widely at him. "Oh now I just have to meet her!"

He scowled lightly at her. "You're just jealous."

She laughed, waving her hand dismissively, almost dropping her papers again. "Keep telling yourself that. Anyways, I have to hurry on. Will you stay in the village?"

He lightly shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. At least not now. I have a mission, actually."

"From Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked, "So you joined the village after all!"

"The clan joined the village as an ally," Naruto explained, "But... I suppose that's the same, isn't it?"

"It is, you goof!" Shizune sighed, rolling her eyes. She bowed lightly and walked down the hallway again. "Be seeing you!"

He waved after her, standing there for a minute, lost in thought. Now that he had more or less officially accepted that the Uzumaki joined Konoha... did that make him Clan head? After all, Tsunade was out of question and his own mother had been Uzu's princess. Hm, wait... didn't that make him a prince? Or King even? Heh... Naruto shook his head. He had no time for delusions of grandeur. A king without people was no king at all. That aside, he couldn't just stay in one place. There were still people to heal.

Someone cleared their throat right behind him, startling him out of his musings. He turned around to see that he was blocking the way for a nurse and a bed she was rolling though the hall. He apologized sheepishly and quickly stepped out of the way. Now the, he still had business to take care of. He stilled for a moment to expand his senses. The girl was a floor above him, her heart causing her minor pains at the moment.

Well, he'd change that.

* * *

Hinata inhaled deeply, as she had been instructed to. The doctor's glowing palm wandered up and down her bare back and she exhaled again. The older woman, dressed in the white coat that most doctors at the Konoha Hospital wore, nodded to herself with a light frown. "It seems to need some more time to heal. The blood vessels are still tender," she told her.

"I see," Hinata said, more to herself than the doctor. That meant she wasn't cleared for duty. Again. She could almost feel her father's disapproving frown and Neji's cold glare. Both she'd receive once she got back to the compound. "How long do you think, doctor?" she asked.

"Can't really say," the woman replied. "It's a rather fragile place to be wounded at to begin with, and the chakra damage only adds to it. A month? Maybe two? It could be more." The doctor smiled sadly at her. "Keep your heartbeat calm and don't overexert yourself."

Hinata nodded sullenly and reached for her undershirt when the door was thrown open. AT first she wasn't overly worried, no one but the nurses and the other young doctor, Shizune, was it(?), kept walking through this wing. Hinata was, however, startled when a tall man in a white cloak entered, violet eyes immediately locked onto hers. She blinked at him for a second before she realized that she wasn't even wearing her undershirt at the moment. With a muffled squeak, Hinata corssed both arms in front of her chest as fast as she could, rotating herself on the examination table to face away from the newcomer.

Her doctor, startled by the sudden noise, turned first to her, then to the stranger. "Who in the-!" she began angrily but her voice faltered before she finished the sentance. "Oh! Lord Uzumaki! I wasn't aware you had returned!"

The young man chuckled. "Please, don't call me that. How is your patient doing, Doctor Hasagi?"

The Doctor sighed. "So that's why you came. And here I thought you were here to visit me after over three years."

What was going on? Hinata was very much confused by the fact that Doctor Hasago hadn't thrown the man out yet! So they knew each other and- Wait... Uzumaki? "N-Naruto!?" she squeaked, clinging onto her undershirt as tightly as possible. She dared to crane her head around and take another look at him.

Tall, deep red hair and violet eyes. Well... Hinata had never met anyone aside form Naruto who had those looks so...

He smiled at her, taking off his white cloak. He wore a skin tight long sleeved shirt underneath. Hinata felt her cheeks redden. "Hinata!" he greeted, "Damn, you grew so much in those three years!"

Hinata's lips quivered. Oh no! He had seen her-! Her-!

The thought never finished. Hinata fainted before she ever could.

* * *

"Hm, so that didn't change," Naruto commented dryly just as he caught Hinata's unconscious body before she could fall off the table.

"Those fainting spells can't be healthy," the doctor noted with a frown. "So, you have studied under Lady Tsunade?"

"I did," Naruto confirmed, "Not that you ever doubted it. Other wise you would have thrown me out of the room alrady."

Hasagi laughed. "My, you have grown observant!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You act as if I hadn't been before." He gently placed Hinata on the table and covered her with her the undershirt she had been clinging to. No need for her to faint once more when she woke.

"You weren't," the doctor stated nonchalantly, "You were a brat, got yourself beaten up every day and moped around all the time for failing as you did at the academy."

Naruto pouted at her. "Your memories are far too accurate, doctor."

She laughed and sat down in her chair at the table. "Doctor indeed. Should I address you as the same, _White Wanderer_?"

Naruto sighed, golden eyes observing the damaged tissue around Hinata's heart. "So you heard about that one?"

"Who hasn't?" the doctor returned. "So... can you _really_ heal everything?"

Naruto watched as his fingertips turned red and the color slowly crawled up halfway his forearms. "No," he said simply. "I can heal a lot, can cure a lot, but not everything. Reattaching limbs is far easier than knitting someone's nervous system back together."

"The girl's heart, you can heal that?"

"Easily," he responded. "My chakra is different. I don't rely on her body as guidance. I simply put it back the way it has to be."

The doctor frowned at his back. "That is... unusual. The amount of control you would have to exert is..."

"Inhuman," Naruto supplied. "I'm going to wake her."

Hasagi had no chance to comment for Hinata already opened her eyes again.

"Hey there," Naruto said with a smile, "Nice of you to join us."

She flushed crimson immediately and her brain was just about to let her drop again when Naruto pulled her back. "No fainting during the examination," Naruto chided with mock seriousness. "I'm a healer, Hinata. I can restore you heart and chakra system."

Hinata didn't utter a sound, just stared at him with wide eyes, which flicked over to doctor Hasagi from time to time.

"Let him work, girl," the woman said gently, "He's the best, after all."

Was he now? He turned to look at the doctor. "I am?"

She shrugged. "None of us could repair a severed spine without any aftereffects. Lady Tsunade could, if she was sober, but that's all. And you do it with ease."

Ease wasn't the right word. It was hard. Always. His ungodly reserves just made it seem easy. "I suppose," he acknowledged. He turned back to Hinata, whose eyes were even wider than they had been before. He really must have startled her. "Well, you could just... nod if you want me to heal you."

She glanced down at her chest, arms still tightly crossed in front of it.

He smiled, chuckling lightly. "You don't need to take your arms away," he assured her. "I won't even have to touch you. You just need to remain still. Can you do that?"

Hinata glanced back at doctor Hasagi, who nodded encouragingly at her, before giving an almost impeccable nod in his direction. "Great!" he exclaimed. "Now relax. It won't hurt."

She immediately closed her eyes once his hands began to emit the soft golden light. It enveloped her, eased her tense muscles and calmed her frantically beating heart. Naruto heard her sigh softly as she relaxed and began to guide his chakra into her chest.

"Amazing...," he heard the doctor mumble from behind him. She must have approached at some point.

Slowly and steadily, Naruto replaced tissue and nerves that were too damaged with healthy, new cells, crafted with his own chakra and copied directly out of Hinata's DNA. It was always a strange process, going through genetic information. It didn't really stick, but Naruto still knew tidbits of oddities that occurred in her DNA. Like her hair. It was mutation, an entirely new genome that caused her unique hair color with the blueish tint. Or the little pigments of lavender that hid within her eyes. Hinata's body was very healthy but... there were signs of physical abuse, sprained bones that hadn't been rested properly, deep bruising here and there. Naruto cured it all. It took but a few seconds.

Once he was finished he took a step back. Doctor Hasagi immediately took his place, her green glowing palm hovering over Hinata before the girl even opened her eyes. "That is... astounding!" she mumbled. "As if it had never happened!"

"I am to please," Naruto snickered with a light bow. "My work here is done. See you around, Hinata."

"Y-Yes!" the girl squeaked as she sat up. "S-s... See you, Naruto!"

Well, he couldn't cure the stutter. That one she would have to tackle on her own. He was about to leave when the door was almost kicked into his face.

* * *

"No!"

"Yes, you will! Five!"

"No I won't!"

"Fuck off!"

"You disrespectful-! Four!"

"I said _NO_!"

Morino Ibiki was a patient man. A bit sadistic maybe, but patient. This "interrogation" however, was wearing him down. He had been ordered to merely watch his Hokage but once Tsunade had begun questioning Tayuya about the Uzumaki boy, it all became rather ridiculous. Which was from the very beginning. The door to his right opened and Inoichi Yamanaka walked in, carrying to steaming cups.

"What is it this time?" he asked, handing him one cup (black coffee) and taking a seat in the chair next to him.

"The number of children they will have," Ibiki told him, sounding none too pleased about it.

"Really?" Inoichi made. "That's... Why is she even asking her that?"

"She's trying to wear her out, agitate her and make it easier to slip up," he told him. "Or... that's what I'd like to believe."

The Yamanaka sighed into his cup before emptying it in one go. He exhaled sharply. "Shit that was hot... Well, by now it's just chicane. We already have everything we need. Almost all of the locations are confirmed. We even got a potential number of enemies. That is huge by comparison to all we got before."

"Still... Iw ould have liked to paly with her," Ibiki said rather morosely. "She would have been fun to break."

"Ah... sometimes I forget just how sick you are," Inoichi stated dryly.

Ibiki glared at him but didn't say anything more. They watched as Tayuya abruptly stood.

"That's it!" she seethed, "I'm _so_ done here!" Without giving the pissed Hokage a second glance, she stormed out of the room.

"Oi! Get back here! We weren't finished!" Tsunade hollered after her. "Five children! And not one less!"

"Fuck you!" it rang inside the room. By the sound of it, Tayuya was already halfway down the hall.

Inoichi sighed loudly. "Why wasn't the door guarded again?"

"Technically, the girl's no prisoner," Ibiki explained sullenly. "She did this voluntarily. More or less."

"Ah," Inoichi made. "Will you follow her?"

"No," Ibiki said, shaking his head. "We already know where she's headed."

* * *

Tayuya grumbled to herself the whole way to the hospital. For where else would miracle boy be? Tayuya didn't know where the red light district was, so the hospital was the best option for now. She had barely stepped through the glass door when she heard the first nurse swoon.

"Have you seen him?" she told another nurse excitedly, "He looks _soo_ handsome! And those eyes!"

"His shirt is tight enough to make out his abs!" one added from over the reception counter, not even taking note of the pissed redhead that had just entered.

"He went up to the clan ward," a third one commented. "Think he has a sweetheart there?"

Tayuya scowled at them. The nerve of him! Leaving her to the Hokage! Damn that woman! And damn him even more!

"Where's the fucking clan ward?" she asked the next best nurse, who jumped in surprise. When she didn't immediately answered, Tayuya pressed on. "I'm waiting!"

"Oh, uh," the woman stammered, "The... the second flight of stairs to the left, down the hallways." She pointed down to the left.

Tayuya merely nodded and stomped down the hall, intent on beating some sense into miracle boy. Which was probably futile because she could neither hurt him nor was their any sense that would help that fucking flirt... A sweetheart! Bah! As if there was anyone who'd like the idiot enough to let him eat face!

...

Wait.

That bastard! She was going to kill him!

Some punk with a food tray got in her way up the stairs and she almost ran him over. He was about to snap at her when she growled him into submission. His eyes widened and he missed the last step, falling over and landing face first in the bow of rice he had been carrying on the tablet. That almost made her laugh but she had an Uzumaki to skin.

There was a series of doors lining the hallway, overhead hung a sign that read "Clan Ward". So that was the place... Now, where was miracle boy? Deciding that any door was as good as the next, she simply opened the very first one to her right. Inside was a young man who-

"What the fuck?" escaped her. The man, half passed out, was in there with (of course) a doctor and a _freaking_ dog, that had it's head buried in rectum.

She slammed the door shut again, she wasn't even going to ask how that happened. On to the next door, she kicked it open as well. Inside was a whole group of blondes, three lying unconscious on the examination table, one twitching and jerking as he babbled incoherently in a chair. That looked like a literal mindfuck, given that those blondes were all Yamanaka. "Damn," she whispered to herself as she closed the door, "Konoha is fucking crazy."

Tayuya made quick work of the third door and, uh, well... It was definitely and Akimichi, given the size. The man was sitting in a chair opposite of his doctor with a huge dinner plate protruding from his _nose_. Yes, his _fucking nose_. That guy looked like he snorted his food! Tayuya snorted (though she didn't need a doctor afterwards) as well and closed the door again.

The fourth door was locked so she had to kick it in. Knocking wasn't her style. Almost immediately she came fact to face with a toned chest, one she had caught herself observing far too often these days. She was about to raise her eyes to his but out from the corner of her eyes she spied a raven haired girl with enormous knockers that sat half naked on the examination table, just barely covering herself with a piece of cloth. Her semi permanent frown dropped into a scowl.

"You god damn perv!" she accused loudly, "Would it kill you to treat these bimbos with at least _some_ clothes on!?"

He smiled at her, this stupid, dreamy, sparkly smile. "I could," he said simply. "But you _are_ quite beautiful, you know? How could I ever resist?"

Tayuya could not roll her eyes hard enough to compensate for all of his bullshit. "You just _had_ to eat my face, huh? Couldn't resist at all, damn perv! I bet it wasn't fucking necessary at all!"

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, pulling his cloak over his broad, muscular shoulders. Tayuya swallowed. Shit! "You got it in one!"

"I swear to kami," she began, "You do that again and I'll papercut your dick and have you fuck a lemon!"

"Uh," Naruto deflated, a grimace on his face. "That is kinda... sadistic."

She smirked triumphantly at him. "And you better fucking remember it." She grabbed his cloak and stalked out of the room, pulling him with her. "Now come on! I want to get out of this stupid village!"

* * *

They were out of the hospital when Tayuya finally let go off his cloak. She rubbed her temples tiredly and shot a glare at him over her shoulder. She kept glaring at him when he didn't say anything so he decided to ask. Better safe than sorry, an old Uzumaki wisdom.

"What?" Her glare intensified by a hundredfold but he laughed it off. "What is it?" he asked again.

"If you leave a alone with that crazy granny of yours, I will murder you," she hissed.

Oh no. What had Tsunade done this time? "Did you... sign anything she gave you?" he asked carefully.

She turned around and gave him a shrewd look. "What? No. She just went ahead and tried to plan my fucking future!"

Well, as long as she didn't sign all her debt over to her... "So... uh, what plans exactly?"

"She wanted me to marry your ass!" she growled.

"Oh, did she now?" he asked, barely containing a laugh.

She glared at him. "If that was your idea, I swear you'll regret it, miracle boy."

He couldn't hide the grimace. Gods, he hated that name. "It wasn't," he assured her. "Really. She just likes you." And so did he, if he was perfectly honest with himself.

Tayuya rolled her eyes and proceeded to drag him towards the gates. "Well too bad, cause I don't fucking like her!"

They stopped twice on their way so he could heal a bad cough. Tayuya didn't complain once, she seemed to accept his urge to help and heal just as easily as he had accepted her coarse language. A small girl was bouncing up and down in his lap as he immunized her body against a few diseases and he remembered to ask Tayuya something.

"Do you have any idea where the Uzumaki girl could be?" he asked, smiling as he set the girl down on the ground again.

Tayuya shrugged from behind Naruto, her eyes following the little girl as she hopped back to her mother, who thanked him profoundly. "Maybe. I've been to most locations, so I know where she isn't. That leaves a few places but not too many."

Naruto took his staff from her and grinned. "Alright, where to then?"

Tayuya sighed and closed her eyes in thought for a second. "North," she said, "The coats up north."

Naruto strode past her, lightly hitting her bum with the staff as he did. "What are we waiting for then?"

He sped up considerably as Tayuya, after gaping at him for a second, chased after him, threatening the shove his stuff up his ass. Naruto laughed all the way out of the village and he was sure he had seen the slither of a smile on Tayuya's lips as well.

* * *

 **:3**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Guardian**

 **A/N: I've been awfully busy lately and I can't seem to find the time to write properly (not to mention that I'm writing too much at once in general). I can't even get to it and finally finish _A Marriage of (In)Convenience_ , even though there a merely 2k or 3k words missing... I am truly sorry for that one but know that I will hit you with an update soon. Next week I am on vacation and it'll be writing time! **

**:3**

* * *

The travel up north was exactly what Tayuya had expected. At every single god damn hamlet, or even just lonely house at the wayside, miracle boy stopped to perform some impossible feat or otherwise heal mortal sicknesses. As if the general kindheartedness he showed wasn't enough. She doubted that he was really compelled to do all these things, more like he just wanted to save every damn soul on the planet.

And, in his high and mighty mind, she obviously was one of those.

"Would you stop drooling and get moving already?" she bristled at him as they broke camp. "God damn perverts. Fucking hell..."

He had been staring at her again. He did that from time to time, a lost look in his eyes. She had thrown a stone at him before but in all the grass around her she couldn't find one, so she threw her left shoe at him. She didn't need it to wrap up the tent she had bought a few days ago. Miracle boy didn't have a tent, though. He preferred to sleep in a tree, like some damn monkey.

He shook his head when the shoe missed him by a long shot. Damn, she was really no good with throwing things. "How far do you think it is?" he asked her, throwing on his cloak and retrieving her shoe.

"I dunno," she said, "Should be after the next town, a day or so from here." It was a fishing village more than it was a town. A few small houses and a rickety excuse for a harbor with lots of tiny nutshells that were a sore sight to any good sailor. The hideout was just a tad to the west from there, out in the sea and hidden underwater. The entrance was above the surface, a cliff that stood out sharply admits the water.

She was about to shoulder her package when Naruto suddenly too it from her and, using a piece of rope, tied it to his staff. He knelt in front of her and took her left foot, gently and carefully. Tayuya wanted to kick at his face but his grip was surprisingly strong.

"Let the fuck go!" she hissed.

He didn't listen and gently slid her sandal on before standing. Fuck! Why was her face feeling so warm?!

Naruto shouldered her tent with his staff and walked on ahead, leaving her behind in confused silence. She shook her head and scowled.

"I can carry my own shit!" she growled at him, but he didn't listen to her. Instead he kept on whistling. That melody, she had been whistling it not long after they had met. How he still remembered it was beyond her. He was leaving her behind, she realized. "Oi! Wait up, miracle boy!"

* * *

Naruto found himself glancing at Tayuya again as he worked on curing a man's crippled leg. Sitting on the lonely stool in the kitchen behind him, she was singing something for that guy's little daughter, quietly so he wouldn't hear it. It was almost surprising just how compassionate she was, she simply didn't want anyone to know that. He found himself smiling again. The man flinched violently when his bone was re-broken with a loud and clear crack but he didn't feel anything anyways. Twenty seconds later, the bone was mended.

"Your leg is as good as new," Naruto told him, "But that also means that your muscles are still weak from disuse. You will have to exercise."

The man only half listened. He was feeling his thigh, which had been awkwardly bent before and he could rarely even put weight on it. "J-Just like that?" he stammered.

Naruto laughed. "Just like that. It will take a while to get functional again, but you will no longer feel any pain. Just don't strain the tender muscles too much yet. Give it time."

As he left the man to nod numbly, still staring at his as good as new leg, Naruto quietly approached Tayuya from behind, who was still quietly singing for the girl. Her voice was soft, so unlike her coarse tongue would have implied. It sounded like a lullaby to him and Naruto wondered if she had learned int from her father. She had mentioned him once or twice before. He was almost ashamed that he knew next to nothing about her past other than that she had somehow drifted into Orochimaru's clutches.

 _... sleep, childling, sleep,_

 _your father's keepin' watch,_

 _mother's weaving clouds for you,_

 _making dreams that will come true,_

 _sleep, childling, sleep..._

Naruto loved her voice. He couldn't lie about that, not even if he had tried (which he didn't). The lyrics were familiar, though. A lullaby from the Land of Stone? The child was asleep against Tayuya's chest, who looked down at her with a mixture of concern and... sadness. She fell silent once he allowed her to sense him come closer.

"A shame," he said, sitting on the floor besides her, "That the mother had to pass away."

She merely grunted in response and silence fell between them. He was about to say something when she beat him to it. "My father passed away when I was her age," she suddenly said.

"Was he sick?" Naruto asked absently, watching the girl sleep in Tayuya's lap.

"No," Tayuya said bitterly and fell silent again.

Naruto merely nodded in understanding. "Let's get her to her father," he said, softly thumping his staff against the hard wooden floor.

The girl gently floated into Naruto's arms, were she curled up immediately. Tayuya remained sitting on the stool, staring blankly at the rickety table in front of her. He decided to leave her to her own thoughts for now.

* * *

Tayuya kept sitting in the chair for a while. It was hella uncomfortable, but she didn't care. It was god damn odd. Helping people and all that. She wasn't used to people thanking her, let alone smile at her. Naruto smiled a lot. At her, she'd prefer- _most of the times._ Her thoughts were treacherous these days. As was her mouth. She didn't know why she even mentioned her father. To that god damn perv, of all people.

She sighed, letting her head fall back. Upside down she watched him place the girl at her fathers side. They exchanged a few words, but Tayuya couldn't hear them. She missed him, her own father. Everyday of her life.

Orochimaru had taken everything from her and then had audaciously told her she could have done something about it if she had been stronger. As if! She had been seven. No seven year old could have stopped Orochi-fucking-maru from anything if he really wanted it.

And it had been _her_ he had wanted. Her father just happened to be in the way. Tayuya remembered the sound his windpipe made when Orochimaru mercilessly crushed it. A wet _Crack!_ that still haunted her dreams.

"-you alright?" She jolted in the chair and her head snapped up. Naruto was leaning against the table, busy fiddling it the metal rings on his staff. He didn't look at her as he spoke. "Wanna go?"

Tayuya kicked herself for spacing out like that. "Let's get the hell out of here," she grumbled.

The usual snark in her voice was absent.

Naruto followed her without a word.

* * *

It was a lot warmer at the coast than she remembered. Outright hot, really. How the idiot could still wear this damn cloak of his was beyond her.

"It's easy to see, even in the crowd," he had told her, though she could see the sheen of sweat on his neck.

He was just a giant, bleeding heart. She was nothing like him, no goody-two-shoes, no philanthropist like he was. Still... she found herself helping and learning every day. _Learning_. The fucker had the gall to _teach_ her. Like, how to set a broken bone, which herbs made a good draft against fever or dulled pain. She didn't need all that shit!

And yet... she found herself doing it, applying it, at every turn.

In the last village before they'd reach the hideout, some poor ass fishing village, there had been an accident because some stupid fuckers decided to stem a boat without any kind of precautions. Five guys broke a leg each. Dumb fucks.

And yet she reset the leg of one of these idiot.

"Nice work, Tayuya," he had told her, that stupid smile on his face and his eyes lacking the golden color, which told her it was true.

Tayuya didn't understand why his praise made her feel all funky inside. She didn't even like it. It just annoyed the hell straight out of her.

She almost stumbled. "Fuck!" she growled under her breath and sped up her pace. They weren't far from the mountain ridge that stretched far into the ocean. Just a few hours and they'd be there.

If there weren't any more sick maidens on the way, that is.

"You can't run from my charm!" he called after her, though the clinking of his staff didn't cease or speed up.

Her left eye began to twitch. This guy was driving her mad! So why was she smiling!?

* * *

"That's a cave."

Tayuya snorted. "Why, so you _do_ have eyes. Of course it's a fucking cave!"

"You love them and you know it," Naruto shot back, peering into the open space that seemed to lead deep underneath the ocean. "So... how deep is this exactly?"

Tayuya, who had caught herself thinking about the peculiar shade of violet Naruto's eyes had, shook her head. "Hell if I know. It's a research lab. Some sick shit went down here."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he nodded. "Come on the." He slipped into the entrance with ease and Tayuya followed.

It was dark, even with the red light Naruto let his staff radiate. The incessant clinking echoed loudly in the narrow pathway of what appeared to be a perfectly natural cave, dug into the stone by the tides.

"How far?" he asked her after a while.

"No idea." It had been a some time since she'd last been here. Orochimaru's presence hadn't helped either. "But it ain't short. We might walk a while."

They continued on in the relative silence, only ever broken by the clinking of the staff.

"It wasn't always golden," he suddenly said. "My chakra, I mean."

"It wasn't?" To be honest, she was pretty curious about the color because that shit seemed to vary ever so often.

He nodded, glancing back at her. "As you see," He waved his shining staff, "It is also red. It has that color when it's... raw. Just dense, powerful chakra. It turns golden when I apply it in order to heal. Though... if I'm operating blindly, it tends to still shine red, or color my skin at least."

Tayuya snorted. "Looks like a kick ass sunburn to me."

He laughed at that. "No thank you. I like my tan. You could use some color though."

She scowled at him. "Fuck off. Not like living and working in underground bases involves much sunlight."

Naruto shrugged. "I suppose not." He halted mid step and turned his head to grin cheekily at her. She expected something cheesy. "So if you ever feel like giving your skin some sun, I'd gladly help with sun lotion-"

"Shut up," she growled, "I don't wanna hear it, damn perv." It irritated her to no end that her chest warmed whenever he smiled like that. She wasn't supposed to feel like that, not for him, not for anyone. She was a hard-ass bitch! Not some whiny damsel in distress that only waited to melt in his big, strong, callous hands!

They pushed on in silence until the narrow path suddenly opened up into a bigger chamber. On the opposite wall was a thick metal door let into the stone.

"That's it?"

Tayuya snorted. "You fucking guessed it."

"Looks... dank," he asserted lamely, raising his staff into the chamber. The light detached from the tip and floated into the middle of the room. The moment it was halfway to the door, hundreds of spike shot out of the floor and ceiling with a unholy, metallic shriek. They reduced the floating ball of light to embers in the draft.

"Nasty," Naruto commented dryly as he lit his staff again. He looked at her. "Any idea how to get around that?"

"You go through it and open the door," Tayuya said with a shrug, "Once it's open, the spikes won't move."

He gave her an incredulous look. "That would shredder me."

"Nothing to lose then," she said with a grin.

"Ooff... so mean," he muttered to himself and just began to walk towards the door.

Her eyes widened. Was he really just going to-? Tayuya didn't think he was really invincible and she really doubted that he could survive all these spikes. "Oi, what are you-?"

"I can't hear you!" he called back over his shoulder. "I gotta make way for milady!"

She glowered at him but actual worry wormed it's way into her expression. Hopefully he didn't turn around. "Don't you dare get skewered!" she called out.

Naruto turned mid step and continued to walk backwards. "Oh? So you are worried?"

She immediately scowled at him. "No!" she defied, "I'm not fucking-!"

The infernal screeching echoed through the cave again and Tayuya's eyes shut themselves as she turned her head away. Fuck no! She couldn't watch him get torn to shreds!

"Naruto! Are you-!?... Uh."

Well, she had worried for absolutely nothing at all, it seemed. He stood there, in the very center of the chamber with every spike that the sick snake fucker had placed into the walls shot at him. But the deadly metal never even came close to him. He stood in a red barrier and the spikes had either bent themselves or broke off entirely.

Of course.

"Hm?" he hummed with a shit eating grin, "Did I hear some worrying right there?"

"Fuck you, miracle boy!" she growled and stalked past him and the utterly destroyed deathtrap.

* * *

The lab in itself was almost as dark as the cave, only sparse lighting was placed here and there over thick, locked steel doors. There was a foul smell in the air, a stench that reminded Tayuya of death and sickness. Amidst the sickening aroma of rotting flesh and excrement, there was also the distinct smell of disinfectants and formaldehyde. Tayuya remembered these from most of the other hideouts Orochimaru used for his experiments.

She'd taken part in more than enough.

Tayuya glanced at Naruto, who was scowling something fierce, an almost enraged expression deeply engraved into his features. His eyes, however, weren't shining at all. She had expected them to, with all of the failed experiments that lurked behind the many metal doors they passed. It wasn't as if they both didn't know if there were any poor souls still locked up. She could hear them moan and growl in pain, claw at the doors, hammer away at their restraints.

Finally, after almost ten minutes of following the single hallway, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" she asked, eyes never leaving the path ahead of them. Better not be caught of guard.

"I...," he began, pressing a hand against the steel door to his left, "I can't feel any of them..."

She frowned. Shouldn't he be able to? Come on, if those things were healthy, she'd stop swearing. For real! "And.. what the fuck does that mean?"

Naruto exhaled sharply though the nose. An angry sound. "It means, they aren't _human_!" he growled, slamming his fist into the door. A pathetic howl rang through from the other side. "He-! What did he _do_ to them!?" he snarled, his fist denting the steel underneath.

With a furious growl, Naruto wedged his staff in the slit between the door and the stone frame. With a powerful pull, the lock broke as if it had been made entirely of rust. Cloak billowing behind him, Naruto strode inside, slamming his staff into the ground.

Tayuya didn't follow.

She knew what he'd find in there. Or at least, she had a general idea. Orochimaru's experiments centered around increasing the human body's power and vitality so that, one day, he may become immortal. There was a lot of shit about cell regeneration and division she had been subjected to listening to when Kabuto ranted about it while giving her stitches and taking blood samples. She had seen her fair share of what these experiments did to the subjects.

The one Naruto knelt in front of was actually kinda tame by comparison.

The skin of it was a dirty gray, either a side effect or just a thick layer of grime, one arm grotesquely deformed with several more joints, thin as a rail and just three fingers jutting from a deformed hand like knifes while the other was but a shriveled stump. It had grey hair, far too long, which hid a gaunt face without any nose to speak of and sunken, black eyes. The creature was missing a leg while the other appeared thrice as thick as her own and almost twice as long. The disproportionate thing opened it's toothless mouth and howled.

The sound was loud enough to make Tayuya grimace but Naruto didn't even flinch as his hands hovered helplessly over the thing on the ground. He shook his head, his hands tensing visible. Nothing happened. He inhaled harshly, keeping the breath, before his hands began to glow in the same red as his barriers tended to shine. Tayuya watched as Naruto's chakra bubbled out of his hand, not half as pleasing to look at as the golden, honey like chakra he had used to heal her.

Like oil it flowed off his hands and over the thing on the ground. It whimpered as if burned and began to thrash around. It's deformed arm lashed out like a whip, slamming into his side. He grunted, but otherwise didn't stop his administration. The transparent red fluid began to _bubble_ over the grayish skin as it's color returned to a paler, more human shade.

Tayuya winced as the arm lashed out again, hitting his head directly. He faltered, the red chakra flickering slightly. She frowned and moved into the cell. The stench was even worse inside. She ducked under the arm and stopped it from hitting Naruto again. Her forearm stung. It would leave a bruise, that's for sure.

The bubbling grew in intensity, almost boiling at this point. The thing thrashed violently, howling it's throat raw. Tayuya threw her elbow against the oncoming arm. The impact was hard, she felt brittle bone break. The beast howled again, but suddenly it's voice changed. The monstrous noise lowered, the pitch returned to a human level. Naruto grunted loudly, the red chakra that covered the thing began steaming, and his patient suddenly went limp.

"What the fuck was that?" she asked, rubbing her forearm. That was when she realized that Naruto was breathing heavily. "Oi, you good?" she asked prodding his heaving shoulders. She flinched when her fingers stung. His skin was _burning_!

" _Fuck_...," he breathed. " _FUCK,_ " he repeated harshly. "I can't-! She's-!" Naruto dug his shaking hands into his hair.

The thing didn't stir, drew several rattling breaths, but could as well have been dead.

It - the thing - it appeared to be... a girl. Tayuya couldn't say for sure but she _was_ naked after all. The arm, the long one, looked broken still but... not as long as before and only one joint. There were still only three fingers but normal ones - not claw like. The lone leg had thinned out but the knee looked weird, inverted somehow, and there were just three toes, just like there were only three fingers.

So... Tayuya did wonder why he hadn't restored her missing limbs, but he _was_ breathing rather heavily, so she didn't think he could simply pull it off again.

She crouched down at the girl's side, brushing the hair out of her face. Well, she had a nose again. "Is she alright?" she asked.

Naruto's breathing calmed and he put his hands on his knees. "Hopefully," he sighed. "She was... messed up so damn much! What does he even gain from all this!? He altered the essence of her very being!"

"Fuck if I know," Tayuya said with a shrug. "He sure as hell didn't gain shit from picking at my bones."

Naruto blew out an angry breath and blindly grasped for his staff. He tore it from the small hole it had made into the ground and knocked it against the concrete twice. The girl began to gently float up into the air, where he draped his cloak over her. He sighed. "Gods dammit... I can't do that again."

"You sure she's okay?" Tayuya asked. The girl's breathing was uneven at best.

"No," he said after a pause. "I don't know what she was before so I can't just turn her back. Her innards are a barely functioning mess. I don't know if I saved her... or made everything even worse. Time will tell. Time she doesn't have."

He left the cell without the usual power to his step, his staff carried limply in his left hand. He opened a few more doors on their way, his eyes darker and angrier with every poor soul he couldn't safe.

* * *

"Is there no personnel at all?"

They had been walking in silence for a while when he asked her.

She shrugged. "The snake fucker doesn't have many underlings that aren't... _things_ or villagers in Oto," she pointed out. "And the few he has are either ninja like me or scientists. And there aren't many of the latter. Here? In this base? Maybe four." But even she thought it was strange that the place was so quiet. Usually these strange fuckers that called themselves scientists should at least be working.

"We better find the girl then," he said picking up his pace. "I don't like this at all."

He was right about that. Orochimaru's hideouts were always far from nice and cozy but this one, with all the cells and howling _things_ , this one topped them all. Tayuya could see that he was beating himself up about not being able to really heal them. She glanced at the girl that floated in between them. Her breathing had become worse and her arm kept spasming.

"She isn't going to make it," she finally said.

Naruto stopped dead. He kept his eyes on the ground in silence. "I know," he finally said. "All I can do is try to make it easier for her."

Tayuya hummed in agreement. It was better for the girl this way. In fact, maybe they should make it easier for all of these poor things. She glanced at Naruto. Well, wouldn't help her with that.

The seemingly endless hallway finally ended and opened up into a bigger room with a water tank right in the center. A lot of screens and computers stood all around it, monitoring something that was supposedly inside. Tayuya didn't remember this one. Maybe they moved it in here at a later time. There was more light in here, though most of it came from the water tank itself. And, lo and behold, there was a scientist, dressed in a white robe and most of his face hidden in more white cloth.

Naruto, she decided, wore the cloak better.

"Hey!" he called out, "Who the hell are you!?"

Tayuya sighed. She may remember that one. Was he the guy that was supposed to modify people with animals? Or the one that was supposed to clone bloodlines? Either way, they were all fucking mad. Naruto nudged her side with his elbow. She raised an eyebrow at him while the scientist shouted at them.

"Well?" he asked, ducking his head in her direction, "You gonna take him out?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, 'cause you're fucking useless, huh?"

He gave her a hurt look. "You are _so_ mean, Tayu!"

"... _Tayu_...?" she repeated slowly. "Say that again," she dared him, voice dangerously low, "Say that again and I'll trash you so fucking hard, your hair's gonna turn white, miracle boy."

Naruto backed off, hands raised defensively, though he grinned at her.

She snorted and vanished in a body flicker. The scientist was fast approaching when her knee slammed into the back of his head and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.

"Uuh," Naruto made, walking up to her. "Concussion." He eyes briefly glowed golden and his chakra ebbed out of him for a second. The spot of blood on the white cloth at the back of the man's head stopped growing, but he remained unconscious.

Tayuya huffed, looking around. No one else was here, the tank room was empty. Despite all the commotion, no one else had come. Her eyes narrowed. "Something's wrong here. There should be some guards at least."

Naruto nodded. "We better hurry and find the girl then."

Tayuya was about to walk on ahead when he pulled her back by the arm. "What?" she asked.

He grinned at her and winked before they were enveloped in a red barrier. There wasn't much space, but Tayuya couldn't deny that his warmth was comforting. It felt like her chakra was humming at the close proximity. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her traitorous heart. Damn him! "Don't you dare get any ideas," she growled at him, keeping her face away from him. Could he tell that her heart was beating faster? She hoped not.

She could almost feel him chuckle quietly next to her as his body shook lightly. A smile pulled on her lips and she couldn't quite keep her scowl in place.

As they left the room, a body seemingly materialized out of nothing in the water tank. A white haired teen with rather sharp teeth, stark naked as he was, peered curiously after the two redheads. "Damn me," he said to himself, "I might actually get out of here!" A cruel smirk split his face. "And cut up some people!"

* * *

The eerie mood of the hideout got worse with every step and Tayuya was loath to admit that she half expected Orochimaru to pop out of the next door they passed. The face that she walked close enough to Naruto so their hands touched from time to time couldn't have bothered her any less at the time. In fact, she would have to admit to herself that it calmed her considerably. The white haired girl, Tayuya insisted on calling her Shiro, was getting worse by the minute and they stopped from time to time for Naruto to try and restore at least some kind of painless state to her.

"Are you sure she is in here?" he asked her after he closed another door, face tense and angry. She didn't want to know what he saw in the cell.

"Yeah," she said simply. "I have been to every other hideout and there was only one other girl with hair like mine or yours." She still remembered seeing her from a distance, a passing glance when Tayuya passed a forked hallway that should be up ahead. To the left, where Tayuya went, were the quarters for the sound four when they were around. To the right were the laboratories. She had seen the girl leave a room then, hair as red as her own, reddish eyes and red glasses. "I never got her name though."

"How long ago was that?" Naruto asked, placing his hand on Shiro's forehead, who moaned pitifully.

"About... a three weeks before we attacked Konoha."

Naruto nodded. "Come on. She won't last much longer and I'd rather she'd see the sky one last time before she passes." His eyes seemed to darken as he walked on ahead. "Even if I can't safe her or all the others."

Tayuya grunted and walked up next to him and the red barrier enveloped them again. She had no doubt it would protect them from whatever Orochimaru could do at the moment, so she glanced at Naruto. His face showed just how tense he was. A muscle kept jumping in his jaw and she could almost hear his teeth ground against each other. She supposed he had never failed to heal someone before. Seemed to her like it was hitting him quite hard.

She felt like she should say something. It felt like she had to, but Tayuya wasn't a great conversationalist. She didn't comfort people, more often than not she was the one who'd bring them down low to the point where'd they need comforting in the first place. It was different with children, like she had once been. Simple tunes could put them at ease. It was what she had wanted the most after her father had died and no one would sing for her anymore.

So Tayuya took a deep breath and began to hum. Quietly at first, she hated that she suddenly felt nervous, but with every step she raised the volume a bit until her humming echoed off the walls to the rhythm of their steps.

It felt like ages since she had last heard this tune, even from herself. There was no name too it, not to her anyways. She had been too young to remember the name when her father sung it for her. He hadn't been that much of a singer, but he did it anyways since she refused to got to sleep without it. It reminded her of his red eyes, the angular face with the scratchy beard, the blood red hair. He had been kind, didn't speak much. If he did though... well, Tayuya didn't get her swearing from her mother.

All she got from her mother was a hateful look as Orochimaru dragged her out of the home by her hair. Tayuya still remembered the anger and despair in her mother's eyes as she knelt over her father's body. She was blaming her for it.

Tayuya wished she could fault her for it.

She was losing herself in the tune. It was a slow, simple piece. Tayuya didn't even remember the wording, but the melody stuck in her head and in the early days of training, torture and starvation, it was the only thing to comfort her.

Apparently, it comforted Naruto just as well. His shoulders relaxed and he was breathing easier. His fingers slowly drummed along on his staff, making tiny clinking noises ever so often. Tayuya's chest felt so full and warm all of sudden and she averted her eyes, almost missing a beat. She shook her head and they walked on.

"Thank you," he said warmly and Tayuya struggled to keep herself from acknowledging him. But the warmth was there now, buried deep in her heart like an ember to light a fire.

They came across the fork in the hallway not long after. Like she remembered, the left was dark and continued on with the endless metal doors, the right had only a few door, bigger ones at that.

"To the right," she said, "That's were she's working." At least, she hoped so.

She walked ahead but the barrier didn't move so she had to stop after two steps. Naruto stood still, his eyes golden in color. "She's up ahead," he said with a frown. "She's hungry... but otherwise fine."

"You can tell she's hungry?" Tayuya asked. That was all it took for his sensory abilities to pick it up someone?

Naruto nodded. "Not just hungry. Close to the beginnings of starvation, really. Let's go. The sooner we get her out of here, the better."

* * *

Naruto led her down the hallway and opened the eight door they passed with a harsh stab with his staff. The lock cracked loudly as the door swung open. Tayuya wasn't surprised to see a lot of shelves with scrolls and tubes fill out most of the room. There was a table with a microscope and one of these weird spiny things they used to analyze blood or something like that.

She glanced around the room but couldn't see anyone at first. Then the instincts that had been drilled into her by countless training/torture sessions kicked in and she growled, " _Kai_!"

The air shimmered briefly in between two shelves and the girl Tayuya remembered seeing way back appeared, chained to the metal shelf to her left. Bleary eyes looked up at them, unseeing.

Naruto brushed past her in a second, already kneeling down in front of the girl. "Can you hear me?" he asked.

The Uzumaki girl nodded slowly before her stomach growled loudly.

Tayuya had no idea if Naruto could fix hunger. Could he create the lacking nutrients in her body? Or just make her feel like her stomach wasn't empty? Not that she really cared, she choose to instead look around the lab room while Naruto tended to the girl. There were far too many eyes suspended in jars in this room. She knew of Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan and, to a lesser extend, the Byakugan. As far as Tayuya was aware, she had escaped an experiment simply because her body had been too valuable. That should have been an indication that she was an Uzumaki.

There was a ledger propped open on the table with the microscope. A ledger in itself was already an anomaly. Usually there were just scrolls. She glanced back at Naruto, who was quietly talking to the girl, and decided to take a glimpse.

* * *

"M-My name... is Karin-," she croaked before a rough coughing fit stopped her from talking.

Naruto's hand briefly glowed red and the golden chakra emerged into the air as he soothed her lungs. "I'm Naruto," he said, "And I'm here to get you out of this place."

She blinked blearily up at him as she took his face in, but found her eyes failing her. Her eyes opened wider and wider as she took in Naruto's chakra instead. Eventually her mouth fell open and her formerly terribly pale cheeks gained more and more color until they were a definitive pink.

Karin had no idea who this guy was, but kami above, she _freaking_ _loved_ his chakra! It felt so, so _good_! Her sensory abilities were astounding, giving her insight in the person's mood and basic impressions about there personality. This guy was the first person to genuinely feel good by just meeting her! Aside from that, his chakra was an ocean and a sun at the same time. Endless depth coupled with peerless warmth. She might start to drool! It was even stronger than Sasuke's! So much more potent and... special! This feeling she got from it... it couldn't be normal. A bloodline, perhaps?

Karin blinked rapidly to refocus her eyes.

Damn... he was a hunk! While rather round, his face was kind, his eyes like polished amethysts with a golden gleam. His hair was blood red, kept shorter on the sides than on the top of his head, where it's messy nature was visible. Somehow his nose and sharp jawline made him look far older than he felt and Karin felt her heart skip a beat when he smiled at her.

"Did you hear me? I said I will get you out of here."

She swallowed. Was it even fair for his voice to sound like that? She managed to nod when he pulled her up. He looked like... an Uzumaki, didn't he? The eyes and hair were a match, for sure. Karin suddenly found herself frowning. It couldn't be, right? He couldn't be-

"Come one," he said, urging her to follow after him. "We need to get out of here."

"Right," she croaked. Damn, her throat was dry! Orochimaru would pay for this! Locking her away in her own lab! After everything she told him! Everything she told him about-! Her mental rant halted when a body floated into her field of vision. It was certainly one of the unfortunate experiments that were kept in the hideout for observation but this one looked so... so much less failed. More human.

A sharp metallic clink drew her eyes to the staff the other Uzumaki was carrying and her eyes widened. It was him! Karin remembered with great detail every story her mother had told her about them, about the Guardians. This staff was a the only confirmation she needed, since only a Guardian could ever even carry it. The golden spiral that sat at it's tip, the golden rings, all the seals carved into the wood, it was just like her mother had said.

Her mouth suddenly felt very dry. She had... told Orochimaru about the guardians. Not even a day later he returned, looking as good as dead and had his creepy sidekick lock her up. She hadn't been out since then. This was bad.

"Y-You have to leave-!" she chocked out, "This is a trap!" Orochimaru had used her as bait!

He nodded. "We know," he said, frowning, "But I couldn't just leave you here."

She wanted to smile, but she couldn't. They were doomed. A Guardian was unable to fight. Not putting up a fight against Orochimaru was a death sentence! And... hold up. "We?" she asked.

He nodded and turned to look across the room. Karin followed his gaze and found... Sweet freakin' Sannin! Was that... another Uzumaki? And _Tayuya_ no less?! Karin briefly let her senses expand. Tayuya's chakra felt different from any Uzumaki's as far as Karin could tell (though she had only ever met one besides her mother, not counting Naruto), so she may just have been a distant relative. She hadn't gotten the time to observe her chakra the last time.

Not that it mattered to Uzumaki DNA. Karin had studied that quite extensively. If she herself hadn't been studied.

"Tayuya!?" she called out hoarsely.

The girl in question turned around with both eyebrows raised. She was still scowling like back then, as if it was conditional to being herself. "You know my name?" she asked.

Karin bit her tongue. Did she want to admit that she had been involved in more than a few experiments that had been conducted on her? She didn't feel like she could take it. She choose to remain silent. Luckily, Naruto put her arm around his shoulder and heaved her forwards.

"We don't have time for this," he said. "You heard her, this is a trap."

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "No shit," she huffed. "Not like we hadn't noticed before."

* * *

 **A/N: So, I wasn't sure how to write Karin. She met Sasuke, like in canon, and crushes on him as she did in canon. However, I'm not sure how she'll act out now that there is Naruto's chakra in the game. Should she be like she was in the anime or more reserve? I don't know if I can make this mood swing thing work. She was never exactly vain but... well, she judged Sasuke sole for his chakra and appearance, or am I remembering that incorrectly?**

 **Next chapter we'll see what to do with Suigetsu (because I dunno yet) and we meet Sasuke.**

 **Just to quell it beforehand: No, no harem.**


End file.
